CLASS OF 1983 | 2019 | ISSUE 1
Greetings. Having just shoveled in preparation of freezing temperatures and the coming ice storm, I’m now warm and cozy inside compiling these notes. You are an amazing group of individuals—Go, Class of 1983!
Mary Freeman’s husband, Andy Levin, was elected to the U.S. Congress to represent Michigan’s 9th District! Lots of her Wesleyan friends followed the campaign and cheered them on. They’re excited to be a part of this next chapter in U.S. history.
Michael Sommer and Taya Glotzer are empty nesters in northern New Jersey. Michael is a trial lawyer at Wilson Sonsini in Manhattan and Tanya practices cardiac electrophysiology. Her hospital system opened a new medical school: Hackensack Meridian-Seton Hall School of Medicine, and she now works with medical students—a new challenge and opportunity. Their son lives in LA and is a software engineer for Hulu. Their daughter is a third-year medical student at Hofstra on Long Island.
Cheri Weiss was ordained as a cantor/hazzan by the Academy for Jewish Religion in May and is studying in the school’s Rabbinic program. She founded the San Diego Outreach Synagogue, an independent Jewish congregation blending tradition and creativity (sdo-synagogue.org) and the San Diego Jewish Community Choir (sd-jewishcommunitychoir.org).
Kate Rabinowitz lives in East Hampton, N.Y., and appreciates the alumni events, especially in New York theater! She runs the Anna Lytton Foundation (annalyttonfoundation.org) with husband Rameshwar Das ’69 in honor of their 14-year-old daughter who was killed in 2013. Kate runs arts and wellness programs in local schools in her daughter’s honor. Her son is graduating from Skidmore in environmental science and geology. Kate is grateful for her time at Wesleyan and what a privilege it is to have an education, tools, and ability to make a difference in the world.
Charlie Brenner writes from Iowa City, where Nancy Rommelmann visited for a book reading. Charlie has done a lot of travel associated with the science of nicotinamide riboside (NR) and launches of Tru Niagen in Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. His new scientific story about NR addresses the metabolic stress associated with pregnancy and postpartum. A mouse on NR has increased lactation, weight loss, and babies more developed and capable. He is excited to see the clinical trials.
Eileen Kelly-Aguirre, back from running School Year Abroad’s school in Spain after serving three years as executive director, is happily living in her hometown of Washington, Conn., with her partner, Jack.
Janet Binswanger has the greatest job ever: The Curator; affectionately called the director of happiness for Vynamic; a health care industry management consulting firm, based in Philadelphia, with offices in London and Boston. She is aggressively hiring in 2019, so if you know folks who might be interested in joining this dynamic group, e-mail jbinswanger@vynamic.com.
Kirsten Wasson lives in LA, working as a college counselor and internship coordinator at a private high school. She performs stories at events around the city and publishes poetry and nonfiction in literary journals. Hiking, biking, paddle-boarding, and biannual trips to Mexico keep her relatively sane.
Glenn Lunden is obsessed with trains and was named acting deputy chief of rail planning for NYC Transit. He is in charge of planning and scheduling the operations of the New York subway.
Sue Peabody’s book, Madeleine’s Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets, and Lies in France’s Indian Ocean Colonies (Oxford 2017), won three book prizes, including the Society for French Historical Studies’ Pinkney Prize for the best book in French history published by a North American author. Sue is a professor of history at Washington State University Vancouver since 1996.
Jeff Scott practices law in LA at the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where he is co-chair of the firm’s litigation practice. He sees Patrick Dooley ’84, Steven Maizes ’82, Steve Marenberg ’77, John Keaney ’84, and Judy Korin—all of whom are in LA, too. He took his boy/girl twins to Wesleyan for the Sons and Daughters program, and bumped into a few old friends: Paul DiSanto ’81, Mark Molina ’81, Bill Frischling ’86, and Pat Ryan ’85. He was pleased about how enthusiastically his kids were about Wesleyan.
Sheila Spencer was unable to attend the 35th Reunion because her daughter graduated from high school. Her son attends Reed College in Portland, Ore., and her daughter attends Sarah Lawrence College. She met up with Janice Okoomian and Kenneth Schneyer at SLC parent weekend.
Namaste,
Laurie Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu