Heather J. Carmack (’03) Professor of Health Services Research and Senior Associate Consultant at Mayo Clinic, Mayo Clinic
Heather J. Carmack, Ph.D., is an award-winning health communication scholar and educator. She is one of the communication discipline’s leading researchers on communication and patient safety.
She graduated with her Bachelors in Communication-Arts from Truman State University in 2003. While at Truman, she was a member of the national award-winning Truman Forensics team and member of Pi Kappa Delta. She earned her Masters in Communication Studies and her doctorate in Health Communication from Ohio University. For 16 years, she was a university professor in health communication, teaching at Missouri State University, James Madison University, and University of Alabama, where she was hired to help build and lead a doctoral concentration in Health Communication. In 2023, she joined the scientific community at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic as a professor of health services research and collaborative scientist at the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. At Mayo, she partners with clinicians to address practice problems to improve patient care.
A native of northern Missouri, she now calls Rochester, Minnesota home.
Matt Hawkins (’03) Senior Principal Software Engineer, Riot Games
Matt graduated in 2003 as valedictorian with departmental honors in both mathematics and computer science. He earned a BS in computer science and a BS in mathematics. At Truman he was an active member of Beta Theta Pi, where he served several years as the academic chair. He was also an active member of the Truman State Ultimate Frisbee club.
Matt took two software engineering internships (at Cerner Corporation and Boeing) before starting full-time at Boeing in 2003. He worked 3 years at Boeing on fixed-wing fighter trainers, particularly focusing on visual systems and helmet-systems/augmented reality. During his time at Boeing, he also earned his Master’s in Computer Science from Washington University.
Matt left Boeing in 2006 to take a position at Reuters (prior to its merger with Thomson Financial, becoming Thomson Reuters). At Thomson Reuters, he worked on applications in wealth management, investment banking, news, etc. When he left Thomson Reuters in 2012 he had become the principal architect for mobile for both the financial and news sectors of Thomson Reuters.
In 2012, Matt was able to align his personal passions with his professional track by moving to Riot Games. At Riot he started their R&D mobile initiative, in which he worked for a couple years. After this, he moved closer to League of Legends (still the world’s #1 PC game) working on various social initiatives as Tech Lead. Around 2016 he moved over to Esports to work on mobile R&D projects focused on building fandom for League of Legends. After a year on that mobile exploration, he worked with a few talented local engineers to build the Esports Rewards platform. The goal of the platform was to find the biggest fans and find ways to thank them for their fandom.
In 2019 Riot found some success in a new title, Teamfight Tactics (which has since become the world’s #1 strategy game). Riot looked for internal members with mobile experience to help move the title and the studio to mobile platforms. Matt moved to the publishing platform team, where he soon became the Tech Lead for the platform SDK team. On this team, he helped launch VALORANT (currently the world’s #1 tactical shooter game), Legends of Runeterra, and Wild Rift. His scope grew from there, where he became the Tech Lead of the Developer Platform then the Tech Lead of Publishing Platform.
In 2023, Matt was promoted to be an architect for central technology, which is the role he still holds. On this team, he has been able to work on a variety of programs core to Riot’s business strategies. He was the Tech Lead of the partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and the Tech Lead of the studio’s move to be a console publisher, amongst other programs.
Matt lives in the woods in Eureka, Missouri with his wife, Megan, and his 4 children. He loves coaching his kids’ baseball teams and still collects too many hobbies. He loves to travel, struggle with CrossFit, and be outdoors when he’s not working on hobby projects.
Mike Heckman, MBA, FACHE (’99) Chief Operating Officer, Hurt
Michael Heckman (’99) earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Truman State University and later completed his Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Heckman is currently Chief Operating Officer of HURT!, a healthcare technology company focused on orthopedic triage and navigation, and CEO and co-founder of Rockcreek Way, a business advisory firm. He previously worked in international business with Boeing and spent more than a decade at Cerner Corporation, where he advanced innovation in employer health services, population health, and client operations. His career has consistently centered on building organizations, delivering strategic growth, and advancing innovative healthcare offerings.
In addition to his professional roles, Heckman has supported the regional start-up and entrepreneurial community as an investor, advisor, and operator. He has also served on both for-profit and non-profit boards, including a term as Board President of Vibrant Health, a community health center in Wyandotte County. He also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where he teaches organizational behavior.
During his time at Truman, Heckman was president of the Student Activities Board and a founding father of the Beta Theta Pi chapter. These experiences, along with many other campus leadership roles, helped spark his passion for leadership and entrepreneurship.
Heckman lives in Parkville, Missouri, with his wife, Caroline (’97), whom he met at Truman, and their three children, two of whom are currently in college.