College of Applied Science and Technology

George Hoselton ’17, M.S. ’19

George, a McLean County native raised in rural Lexington, Illinois, embodies a commitment to excellence and community. At Illinois State University, where he studied agribusiness and played football from 2013 to 2017, George excelled both academically and athletically. His dedication earned him a grant-funded scholarship for graduate school at ISU, focusing on nutrient loss among Illinois corn growers.

After completing his master's degree, George entered the agriculture industry with Indigo Ag, specializing in carbon capture and regenerative agriculture. Today, as an area sales manager in crop nutrients at GROWMARK Inc., he leverages his expertise to assist over 15 members of the GROWMARKCooperative in navigating the fertilizer market and optimizing procurement strategies.

Outside of work, George is an avid outdoorsman who cherishes time with his wife Katie and their newborn son Westan.

Josh McWilliams ’17, M.S.’20

Josh is a two-time graduate of Illinois State University’s Department of Agriculture, receiving his bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications & leadership and his master’s degree in agricultural education and leadership. While at ISU, Josh served as a graduate assistant, vice president of the Hoof-N-Horn Club, and as an ag ambassador. Josh currently serves on the Ag Alumni Boards’ Ag Day Committee. 

Josh has worked for the Illinois Agriculture Association Family of Companies since 2017 and is currently a business intelligence analyst II with the Illinois Farm Bureau. In his role, he focuses on driving business decisions and innovation through providing quantitative and qualitative analyses, as well as promoting changes to improve overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Prior to Illinois Farm Bureau, Josh was the senior farm trainer for COUNTRY Financial. 

Joseph Kapraun ’87

Joe grew up on a Central Illinois grain and livestock farm and has been involved in the grain marketing field of agriculture for 38 years. He currently serves as the executive director of the grain division for GROWMARK, Inc. 

His accomplishments include serving in executive leadership of state and national trade organizations, international trade missions, testifying to the House Agriculture Committee on the 2008 Farm Bill, and serving as an advisor to USTR and USDA on Ag trade issues. Joe also serves on the ISU Agricultural Alumni Board and ISU College of Business Leadership Advisory Board. 

Gwen Bramlet-Hecker, M.S. ’93

Gwen is the executive director of Riverview Center, an agency that provides crisis and long term support services for survivors of sexual and domestic violence across 16 counties in Illinois and Iowa. She had previously served the agency as development and program director.

Prior to joining Riverview Center, she was chair of the criminal justice program, director of student services, academic dean, and president of Kaplan University-Cedar Falls campus, and assistance professor in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology Department at the University of Northern Iowa.

She holds a bachelor's in sociology from Eastern Illinois University, a master's in criminal justice from Illinois State University, and is all but dissertation in her doctoral studies at Michigan State University, having completed 4.5 years of study there focused on criminology and intersections of race, class, and gender. She is married with one daughter and her first grandchild, also a girl, is on the way.

Viktoria de Jong ’17

Viktoria graduated in 2017 and completed her child life internship at NorthShore University Health System. She then joined La Rabida Children's Hospital as a certified child life specialist, where she chaired the hospital’s pain management committee.

During the pandemic, Viktoria volunteered at The Chicago Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) immunization clinics as their lead child life volunteer, where she helped create volunteer opportunities for child life specialists and students during family immunization clinics. In January 2022, CDPH hired Viktoria as a grant-funded CCLS, recognizing her valuable contributions. The CDC Foundation went on to honor Viktoria with a COVID-19 Workforce Vaccine Initiative certificate for exceptional support to children at CDPH’s vaccine clinics.

Currently, Viktoria works as a mission delivery coordinator for Starlight Children's Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to delivering happiness to hospitalized children and their families. In this role, she helps connect CCLSs and families to Starlight’s innovative programs and resources.

Jessica Kollmann ’13, M.S. ’15

Jessica is an outstanding representation of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). After completing both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in the food, nutrition, and dietetics sequence, Jessica went on to represent the program well in the field of clinical dietetics.

Jessica pivoted into the role of ACEND accreditation manager for ISU's FCS. In this current role, Jessica is a mentor to current ISU students in the distance dietetics program. Her organization and project management skills allow for flawless maintenance of FCS's accreditation data. Her valuable perspective allows the program to continue to move forward and remain competitive in the field. In the fall of 2024, Jessica will start as the assistant director of the dietetic internship program.

Julie Bennett ’86

After receiving her degree in medical records administration from ISU, Julie’s compliance journey began in 2002 where she implemented both HIPAA privacy and billing compliance programs for a local physician practice.  Julie learned her love and respect for education through teaching medical terminology classes at ICC as a new graduate and teaching a semester in the ISU Health Information Management (HIM) program when a professor unexpectedly left mid-year.  That love of teaching continues through various orientations provided to employees, medical students, and residents.  Along the way whether being involved in the ISU student organization back in the day, speaking to the current students in the HIM program, hosting HIM students interested in compliance, or presenting at Central Illinois Health Information Management Association meetings; being involved and giving back have become an important aspect of her career.  

Currently, Julie works at Carle Health as a privacy analyst and is approaching her tenth anniversary.

Carrie Pruett ’01

Carrie has worked at Illinois CancerCare for 13 years with nine of those years in a management position. Over this time, the need for laboratory services has increased within the practice, making her responsible for the growth creating and operating labs in various satellite clinics including Galesburg, Bloomington, Pekin, Washington, Peru and Peoria. This includes staffing (with the help of the laboratory supervisor) 12 med techs and 19 phlebotomists as well as making sure all labs are in compliance with CLIA standards. 

Outside of the lab at Illinois CancerCare, she is also a part of the Young Leader’s Board which helps to put on fundraising events to benefit Illinois CancerCare patients and their families. In 2023, the group raised over $50,000 alone and this year they anticipate that number will be even more.

Laura Williams '15

Laura earned her bachelor's in community health education and public health from Illinois State and her Master of Public Health from Benedictine University. 

Currently, as the director of health education at Marquee Health, she successfully designs and implements comprehensive wellness programs and provides health coaching services that improve client health outcomes. Her initiatives have included developing personalized health coaching plans, creating an online wellness resource hub, and developing Marquee Health’s ElevateU Health Coach Certification program which has been approved by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). 

Laura is also a national board-certified health and wellness coach, a certified lifestyle medicine coach, a certified personal trainer, and a tobacco cessation facilitator through the American Cancer Society.

Jason Bowen ’00

Serving as the statewide chief information security officer, Jason drives positive cybersecurity outcomes for residents and visitors that leverage resources delivered by agencies across the State of Illinois. By building relationships and maximizing value provided through federal, state, and local partnerships, he promotes and implements the unified cybersecurity strategy while providing tactical support where needed. As a public servant, he’s honored to lead a talented cybersecurity team dedicated to serving our residents and neighbors in the accomplishment of this mission.

Laura Nussle ’98

Laura is a physical education teacher and kinetic wellness department chair at Oswego East High School, a recognized Blue Ribbon Health Program from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Laura’s leadership and involvement in the profession has been instrumental in creating quality physical education opportunities for students in her district and state. She is the director of advocacy for IAHPERD, and her advocacy has resulted in physical education legislation. 

Jennifer Wisneski ’15

Jennifer started her career at Fox Valley Special Recreation Association (FVSRA) in 2015 after graduating from Illinois State University’s RPA program. Jennifer has had the opportunity to grow in various positions at FVSRA that has led her to the inclusion manager position she has today. As inclusion manager, Jennifer works in collaboration with four park districts to provide accommodations for individuals with special needs enrolled in recreation programs. 

Betsy Ivancsits ’95, M.S. ’97

For over 25 years, Betsy has held various manufacturing positions ranging from manufacturing engineering to manufacturing manager. Her responsibilities ranged from: manufacturing/industrial engineering, lean coach, site safety coordinator, production manager and manager of various departments: shipping/receiving, scheduling, supply chain, inventory control, tool design, industrial engineering, evaluation lab, facilities, and maintenance.  

Betsy is a member of the advisory committee for the engineering technology program at Illinois State and was the 2007 recipient of the Department of Technology Distinguished Young Alumni Award.  She resides in Chicago with her husband, Peter, and two children, Peter and Madi, and is currently employed at Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Elianna Lovejoy ’18, M.S. ’19

It is no surprise to anyone in the Department of Technology that Elianna has already moved up the ranks at Bridgestone-Firestone to achieve the position of industrial engineering manager after earning her master’s in project management in 2019. Elianna has continued to educate herself through programs offered by Bridgestone-Firestone, McClean County, and various conferences.  She implements these skills in her position, working cross functionally with other departments and implementing best practices.

Outside her role, she leads the Bridgestone in Action Committee and two Bloomington engagement teams at the plant. Through these roles, she is able to improve the communication, teamwork, and cohesiveness of her fellow employees, as well as organizing events to give back to the community.