UCM to Celebrate the Decades During ‘Retro Rewind’ Homecoming

Kati A. Roach

Roach grew up in Warrensburg and always felt like she belonged on campus, attending the Homecoming parade and other events with her family.

Roach enrolled in her hometown university, majoring in Criminal Justice and Criminology with a minor in Psychology. She joined the Alpha Phi Sigma Criminal Justice honors fraternity, the Delta Epsilon Iota honors fraternity and the Delta Pi chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. She also became a member of the Student Government Association and served as president.

Not only did Roach make lifelong friends at UCM, but she also met the love of her life, Matt Maupin. They married soon after graduation in 2010, where Roach gave a commencement address as one of two members in her class to receive the Charno Award, UCM’s highest undergraduate honor. 

With encouragement from Professor Emeritus Dane Miller, Roach applied and was accepted into the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson. There, she landed an internship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After graduating second in her class in 2013, she was selected for a one-year clerkship with the presiding justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. When the clerkship concluded, she returned to Warrensburg to go into private practice with partner Lance A. Riddle.

In January 2022, Roach was appointed by then-Gov. Mike Parson to fill a vacancy for an associate circuit court judge, becoming the youngest judge ever to serve in Johnson County. In November of that year, she was elected to the position and then re-elected in 2026.

Kevin J. Visser

Visser is a Warrensburg native whose ancestors settled in Johnson County in 1834, just one year before the town was founded. He graduated from Warrensburg High School in 1974 and enrolled in what was then Central Missouri State University.

Visser excelled in his studies and held leadership positions in Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He supported himself through college as a summer maintenance employee, a door-to-door book salesman, a work-study employee at Ward Edwards Library and at a local shop selling men’s clothing.

In 1978, he received the Thomas Flippen Award as the outstanding undergraduate Economics student. He walked in the commencement ceremony on a Sunday night and began graduate studies at the University of Iowa College of Law the next day. He completed law school in just two years and, at age 23, joined the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, law firm where he still practices today. 

When Visser joined the firm, there were a dozen lawyers, and today there are nearly 60. He has served as lead counsel in more than 160 federal cases and hundreds more in Iowa courts, taking more than 75 trials to verdict and judgment across 25 Iowa counties and five federal judicial districts. His team’s work has contributed to more than 40 appellate rulings in state and federal courts, and Visser has served on federal judicial merit selection panels.

Visser credits UCM with providing the foundation for his accomplished career and a motivating force in the motto “Education for Service.”

Kelton W.H. Smith

Smith was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up with his two brothers in Chariton, Iowa. He attended public school until high school, when he enrolled at Shattuck, a prep school in Faribault, Minnesota. Upon graduation in 1959, he set his sights on becoming a teacher.

He gravitated toward history, geography and the arts, earning his Bachelor of Science in Education with an emphasis in Social Studies in 1964. He continued at what was then Central Missouri State College, earning a Master of Science in Secondary School Administration in 1966.

Smith served as a classroom teacher and administrator in schools across Missouri before settling in Kansas City Public Schools as a World History and Social Studies teacher. He served 30 years in the district and was also an active member of the American Federation of Teachers.

When he retired in 1999, Smith’s activism and passion for history found a new outlet in local and international historical societies. His decision to volunteer at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City has opened a new chapter in his life. Today, he’s the longest-tenured volunteer in the institution’s history, having logged more than 10,000 hours of service. In 2024, he was recognized nationally for his volunteer service with the prestigious President George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award. 

Abhi Shimpi

From a young age, Shimpi was fascinated with technology. While earning his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Pune University in India, Shimpi simultaneously took the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) in preparation for graduate studies in the United States. He was motivated by his father, who always encouraged him to “dream bigger than his circumstances” and to believe in the transformative power of education.

In the fall of 2008, Shimpi embarked on a journey that would change his life. UCM’s Office of International Student Services made him feel at home from day one. He joined the Indian Students Association, serving as president and organizing cultural celebrations in collaboration with the International Student Organization. It was through this group that he met his wife, Radhika.

Shimpi was hired as a graduate assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, where he worked as a software developer. He received the Department of Computer Information Systems Achievement Award in recognition of his performance in a regional Association of Information Technology Professionals competition.

He began his career as an application engineer, then director of digital engineering management, advising Fortune 500 companies in enterprise-scale initiatives. Most recently, he served as vice president of software engineering at Fidelity Investments.

Shimpi is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and a Peer Community ambassador for Gartner, a leading international authority on artificial intelligence. In addition, he always makes time to mentor the next generation of technology professionals.