Alumni Honors Banquet set for Thursday
Honorees include former UND hockey coach Dave Hakstol and Edgewood Healthcare CEO Phil Gisi, among other distinguished alums
On Thursday, the UND Alumni Association & Foundation is hosting its annual Alumni Honors Banquet at the Alerus Center.
This year’s ceremony will see five alumni honored with Distinguished Achievement & Leadership awards and three receiving Young Alumni Achievement Awards.
Each of their names will be listed below, including a snippet of the features written about them by UNDAAF staff writers. The full articles will be linked for further reading.
Join us in thanking and congratulating these alums for their exemplary representation of the University of North Dakota.
Sioux Award for Distinguished Achievement & Leadership
Phil Gisi, ’82
Phil Gisi, a 1982 graduate of the University of North Dakota, has built a career that reflects the values of his alma mater: hard work, innovation, and service. A “serial entrepreneur” with ventures in health care, hospitality, energy, and real estate, Phil has grown from his roots in small-town North Dakota to lead companies employing thousands — while never losing sight of the importance of mentorship and community.
After an early career in North Dakota’s oil industry ended with the mid-80s price bust, Phil pivoted into health care, a move he said “completely happened by accident.”
Hired as a hospital controller in Minot with no prior health care experience, he quickly rose to CFO and later CEO.
That first-job breakdown instilled in Phil a habit of diversification and seizing opportunities. “Fear of failure” became a powerful motivator. “I always created a backup plan for myself,” he said. “When I saw an opportunity, I would take advantage of it.”
That mindset led to the founding of multiple ventures, including Edgewood Healthcare and Edgewood REIT, which now support more than 3,000 employees and nearly 1,800 investors.
Jill Newby, ’83
Forty years later, she’s one of United’s longest-serving pilots and among the first 30 women hired by the company.
Jill’s career didn’t take off right away.
“I literally wrote to all the airlines, asking for some direction on how to be a pilot,” she said.
They all sent her applications … to be a flight attendant.
After graduating from UND and interning at FedEx, Jill got a shot at United. “During the interview, they asked me about John Odegard. I said, ‘Great, call him!’ I knew they loved the UND program.”
The aviation program, once dubbed the “Harvard of the airways” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, stood out for its structure and sense of community. “Everybody helped each other,” Jill said. “It wasn’t a competitive environment.”
United hired Jill in 1985. She credits her success to UND’s strong reputation and supportive culture.
Dave Hakstol, ’96
Dave Hakstol discovered his love of hockey growing up on his family’s farm in the community of Warburg, Alberta, but it was playing hockey at UND — and the atmosphere of the Old Ralph Engelstad Arena — that ignited his passion and turned hockey into a lifelong calling.
Hakstol skated for UND from 1989 to 1992 and went on to play and coach professionally in the IHL and USHL. A call from then-UND head coach Dean Blais brought him back to campus in 2000 — this time, behind the bench.
In 2004, Hakstol — at just 35 years old — succeeded Blais as UND’s head coach. He led UND to the NCAA Tournament in each of his 11 seasons at the helm, including seven NCAA Frozen Four appearances and several conference titles. He earned multiple Coach of the Year honors as a premier college hockey coach.
“It was eleven years of great memories for me and my family,” Hakstol said. “It was difficult to leave UND without winning a national championship, but I was thrilled for the players, coaches, staff, and fans to see them achieve that goal one year later.”
Dr. John Gray, ’87, and Karen Schmidt-Gray, ’82
As underclassmen at Minot State University, Dr. John Gray, ’87, a football player, met Karen Schmidt-Gray, ’82, a freshman who wanted to see the world. The two quickly formed a strong bond after their first date on a chilly February evening.
Karen transferred to UND her sophomore year; John continued at Minot to play football. He experienced a season-ending injury early on, forcing him to consider his future and his dream of becoming a doctor. It was then that John decided, “I am going to UND, and I am going to medical school.”
The following year, John joined Karen at UND, where Karen became Vice President of Delta Gamma and John spent long hours studying, working toward his medical degree. The couple became interested in philanthropy, which continues today.
After graduation, Karen took an out-of-state sales position while John finished school at UND. Karen continued her career in the travel industry until she and John started their family, at which point Karen opted to stay home to raise their children. She actively supports her community by volunteering in educational and literacy groups. John is deeply grateful to Karen, whom he sees as the heart and strength of their family.
John fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, specializing in nephrology. He completed his residency at Hennepin County Medical Center and has practiced medicine at Kidney Specialists of Minnesota (KSM) since 1992. He has also held various leadership positions, serving as a board member of North Memorial Medical Center and President of KSM. John credits his success to his education. “UND was literally everything to me – it shaped my life.”
Young Alumni Achievement Award
Lisa Persuitti-Huber, ’05, ’08
Lisa Persuitti-Huber’s professional title may place her at a rival institution — Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at the University of Minnesota Alumni Association — but her loyalty to the University of North Dakota runs deep.
So deep that she and her husband named their daughter Dakota, a tribute to the place where they met, launched their careers, and built a life rooted in shared values. “Names mean a lot to us,” Lisa said. “I’ve always believed the names you carry and the names you use matter. Dakota is proud of her name — she knows what it means, and she shares that story all the time. UND is always part of it.”
Lisa’s connection to UND is anything but symbolic. As a student, she dove headfirst into campus life — from the Public Relations Society of America to a full-time role in the UND Athletics Sports Information Office — determined to graduate not just with a degree, but with a portfolio of experience. Her job in Athletics also brought her into the orbit of fellow alum Max Huber, ’08, now her husband and co-founder of their travel-focused side venture, The Magic Travel Guy. Together, they’re raising two children with names that reflect deep meaning and connection. Their daughter Dakota’s name honors their UND roots, and their son Rocco — “our sparky little first grader,” as Lisa describes him — carries a name passed down through family. “They both carry importance,” she said.
Dr. Michael Greenwood, ’07, ’11
Michael Greenwood, ’07, ’11, was a talented four-sport athlete at Jamestown (N.D.) High School. He stayed active throughout the year: football in the fall, hockey in the winter, track & field in the spring and baseball during the summer. Though he was busy competing, he still found time for his studies.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the ophthalmologist not only opened Vance Thompson Vision’s first practice near Sioux Falls, S.D., but also helped the business grow to more than 400 employees across nine locations in seven states. He did so as one of two managing partners — and even started his own accompanying business.
Today, Michael runs the West Fargo office. He founded “Green Man” with his business partner Brandon Baartman, allowing patients to see what their vision would look like through a virtual reality headset after getting eye surgery.
“It’s a virtual reality education thing for patients to help them better understand how they’re going to see after they have cataract surgery, you know, sort of a test drive,” he said. “Cataract surgery is a once-in-a-lifetime procedure on your most precious sense, and you’ve got different options on which lens you want to choose — similar to buying a car. We want people to be able to test drive it before they have surgery.”
Hunter Pinke
On who he’s become since graduating:
When I graduated, I didn’t want to be done competing. I got my master’s degree from the University of Arizona and played wheelchair basketball for three years. That was a way of telling the world my injury didn’t win. It might have changed me, but it didn’t beat me. I could still compete for a national championship and reach my goal of becoming an Academic All-American.
On UND Football:
One of my core memories was freshman year when we won the Big Sky Championship and rushed the field. When I committed to UND, Coach Schweigert said we want to build a program to win conference championships. To have that happen my first year, I felt like we were building this thing quickly.
Also, going out for the coin toss at NDSU in my wheelchair. I always imagined that moment looking differently – I didn’t have my helmet on, but I was still at midfield calling heads or tails. And I won the coin flip, so I did my job.
What his UND education taught him:
The number one thing my education taught me was how to start something and give my best effort to the finish. Whether it was an engineering project I worked on until 2 a.m. or now, in my job, making sure a house design is ready for a 10 a.m. meeting – it’s about seeing things through to the end.
Coach Schmidt always says, ‘the work works.’ That’s so true not only football but in life. If you take care of what you need to today and give your effort today, it turns out. They gave me that success structure in football, but it has carried over into my life.
