Alumni Profiles

Emma Zhao, MSW ’11, discovered how much she enjoyed development when she was a student at the Brown School. Now she gets to work in the field for the university that sparked the interest.

Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis and Hillary Petrie, all 2006 architecture graduates, became friends and collaborators while students at Washington University. Now, they run the award-winning furniture design company Egg Collective in New York City.

When Sam Coster, AB ’12, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at age 23, he knew his life had to change. A game developer who made irreverent endless runners for mobile, Coster and his brothers, who run the game development studio Butterscotch Shenanigans, decided to create their most imaginative and ambitious game to date, Crashlands.

As a survivor of sex trafficking, Katie Rhoades, MSW ’11, is passionate about helping women in the commercial sex industry. After graduating from the Brown School, she founded Healing Action, a nonprofit that helps women move on from their trauma.

Kristin Bauer Van Straten, BFA ’88, is best known for playing the fashionable, no-nonsense vampire Pam De Beaufort on HBO’s True Blood. But when she was younger, she was interested in another art, painting, which led her to Washington University.

As a linguist and professor at Swarthmore, one might wonder why Jamie Thomas, AB ’06, is interested in zombies. She’s found that representations of the undead can help us better understand the dehumanization and fear that accompany racism, sexism and other languages of hate.

Business Insider recently reported that St. Louis is the best city for Millennials due to its low cost of living and lifestyle. Zoë Scharf, BFA ’11, co-founder of the start up Greetabl, wants to add one more reason to the list: the city’s great start-up scene.

Mike Keymer, BS ’98, founded Topspin Labs, which works at the cutting edge of data and technology. Keymer, through Topspin, partners with ­organizations to find other applications for their technology and create a startup around that new use.

Michael King, AB ’87, has worked in cities around the globe to improve street design. He’s a “traffic calmer,” making streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Through her blog, Scary Mommy, and two parenting books, best-selling author Jill Smokler (right), BFA ’99, takes a look at parenting in all its irritating, sleepless, joyful and hilarious glory.