Ingram's March 2023

Stephen Mazza KU School of Law, Lawrence It was simple proximity that led Stephen Mazza to his future career. “I didn’t have any immediate family members who were lawyers, but my dad had an office on the town square next to a law firm,” Mazza says. “He admired the lawyers next door, which encouraged me to pursue a

Carisa McMullen Landworks Studio, Olathe For Carissa McMullen, success in business is grounded in three letters: Y.E.S. By taking a “just say yes” approach to serving clients’ landscaping and design needs, she starts the process of finding the most efficient—and smartest—ways to meet those goals. Her Olathe company specializes in master

law degree.” Born and raised in Huntsville, Ala., Mazza was an honors graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and received his LLM from New York University School of Law, where he served as managing editor of the Tax Law Review . At NYU, he began his teaching career with a fellowship before he went looking for a permanent position. “My first on-campus interview was at KU Law,” he recalls. “I was so impressed by the quality of the faculty that I canceled all my other call-back interviews and accepted the position here. That was 25 years ago.” First serving as an associate dean, Mazza became interim dean when the dean at the time left. He was then named dean in April 2011 and has appreciated the chance to represent both the school and the alumni over the last decade. “It remains an honor to represent the school to all our constituencies. It’s the highlight of my professional career and I remain grateful to my colleagues for their support.”

planning and design, natural-resource management, community planning and engagement, transportation, streetscapes, signage, branding and other services. Getting there requires a blend of empathy, a competitive spirit, and a relentless focus on excellence. When she started Landworks Studio in 2000, she says, she wanted to create a place where personal attention defined her approach to every client discussion, and finding ways to turn big ideas into reality. Landworks is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise in Missouri and Kansas. Before she took the entrepreneurial leap, she absorbed lessons learned at opposite ends of the design scale, from both small engineering firm and a large architecture firm. “This exposure,” she says, “has provided me with a wide perspective of practicing professionals across multiple disciplines. I appreciate the issues that thread through each design profession, in addition to those specific to a particular industry.” You can see examples of the firm’s work at Wichita Aquatics center, plans for a new regional park in Topeka, and closer to the home offices, MLK Park in Kansas City and St. Joseph’s Liberty Oak splash park.

Candice Millard Author, Mission Hills Truth is often stranger than fiction, as the saying goes, and those true stories—tales of legendary individuals throughout time—have always been appealing to Candice Millard. “I realized that this was what I wanted to do, to tell stories that connect us, through time and

Jon Nash Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita When Cargill’s protein division

completed the ground-up construction of a new headquarters in Downtown Wichita, the job wasn’t done until one key piece was in place. That would be Jon Nash, who was a 21-year veteran with the company when he was named

physical distance, with people who may seem so different from us that they appear almost mythical,” she said. After attending Baker University, the author of books such as “Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, the Making of Winston Churchill” and “The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” started her career at National Geographic , where she fell in love with historical figures, and now her research leads her all over the world to uncover the missing pieces of their stories. “I think we all have a natural curiosity; mine just happens to be about human nature, what drives us, what defines us. I have never tired of a story I was researching, so I’ve never been tempted to quit before I have what I think—what I hope—is the full picture.” Currently working on her fifth book, she said she hasn’t lost her excite ment for storytelling. “Living and working in Kansas City has been a great advantage. … I have always had the freedom to tell stories that interest me, and I am able to take the time I need to try to get them right.”

president of Cargill Meat Solutions in 2019. Cargill has long held the title of the nation’s largest private company, according to Forbes magazine. It ceded those honors only once in the past 15 years, to cross-town conglomerate Koch Industries, before reclaiming No. 1 in 2021. Nash came on board with Cargill in 1998 as a financial analyst for the processing plant in Schuyler, Neb., working his way up to the president of the company’s protein food-service business. Corporate officials say his leadership tool kit includes experience in commercial, operations, and finance experience. He came to Wichita from Fresno, where Cargill has a beef facility, and Nash served as vice president of operations and general manager. The company is massive, with 155,000 employees overall; the protein and salt division Nash leads counts 60,000 of those working in 17 countries to meet the world’s appetite for beef, poultry, and egg products, distributing to food service, retail, and food-ingredient companies. He’s a Mizzou grad, having earned a degree in finance there before picking up his MBA from Virginia Tech, and he successfully navigated the Harvard Business School’s executive education program.

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2023