1996 – Page 4 – Wesleyan Magazine Classnotes

Class Notes | 1990s2013/10/242014/08/18

Class of 1996 | 2014 | Issue 1

Let’s start with news from Julia Morrison, who wrote in for the first time! She produced, wrote, and edited her first narrative feature film, the indie romance Hank and Asha, which won the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and will be released in spring 2014. Watch the trailer at www.hankandasha.com and follow at facebook.com/hankandasha.

Sally Lee lives with her husband and two sons, Zach (4) and Marcus (2), on the Lower East Side. Her organization, Teachers Unite, just produced a documentary, Growing Fairness, about how schools are stopping the school-to-prison pipeline with restorative justice. Check it out at teachersunite.net.

Kirsten Greenidge’s play Luck of the Irish was at the Huntington in 2012 and Lincoln Center Theater in 2013. It won an Independent Reviewers of New England Award in May. Kirsten also received a PEN/America Laura Pels Award for midcareer playwright and a New England Theater Conference Special Award. She was happy to exchange a big hug with Lauren Elmore at a post-show discussion of Kirsten’s play Splendor in Boston, in the same afternoon that Kirsten got to see the closing performance of Ginger Lazarus ’96’s production of her play Burning, also in Boston.

Chung Ma moved from NYC to Virginia when he accepted a new role at the Virginia Retirement System in Richmond, managing an emerging markets equity and currency portfolio. The entire family (Emily, Zoe, and Desmond) moved in mid-August. He writes, “It’s a big change from NY, as we’re living in a place that is three times the size at the same price. We’re going to miss our friends in NYC, but we hope to come up and visit regularly.”

Jimmy Liao is in his fifth year as a professor of biology at the Whitney Lab for Marine Biosciences at the University of Florida. He just received his second grant and tells us that he is also “fishing bass tournaments at the semi-pro level and surfing badly.”

Kelly Bird Pierre is director of enrollment and admissions, K–12, at The Hewitt School in NYC. Children Oona, 11, and Jacques, 8, attend public school in New Jersey, where the family lives.

Emma Jacobson-Sive is still in Los Angeles, sometimes acting and often doing PR for a local museum. She regularly sees Ariel Levy (godmother to her daughter, Charlotte Eve Lapin, named after Eve Crowell), as well as Rebecca Cutter, Mike Stabile, and Kenny Barnett ’94.

Justin Navarro writes, “I recently became a homeowner in Cheshire, Conn., a mere half hour from ol’ Wes! After moving back to Connecticut with the husband for his residency training at Yale back in 2007, we decided to settle down here. Not coincidentally, I’m working for the Yale School of Medicine doing Web project management. Speaking of resettling, I accompanied John Favretto on a cross-country drive from Washington, D.C., to Santa Fe, N.M., where he has now lived for almost a year. Last but not least, I was thrilled to attend Chris Shepard’s wedding to Christopher Norwood this month.”

Ashraf Charania has been with Virgin Galactic for over a year now, as their business development manager, based in Washington, D.C.

Elura Nanos Kish’s reality-TV series, Staten Island Law, completed its first season on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Elura has also been making weekly TV appearances as a legal analyst for Fox News, HLN, Sirius Radio, Current TV, and HuffPostLive—where she aims to bring that Wes-brand of common sense to legal news. Elura still lives in South Jersey with her husband and two kids. She also serves on the board of several charitable organizations and plays piccolo in the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey.

Maria Lourdes Chen Quinn now lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Chris Quinn, and their four children (a son and three daughters). Her youngest child was born in August.

Merry Weaver reports that her son, Adam, was born on Aug. 20, joining his sister, Danica (who turned two in October).

Sarah Wildman writes: “Ian Halpern and I welcomed a baby girl in mid-June (Hana Dorothy Wildman Halpern—named in honor of Ian’s grandfather Harry and my grandmother Dorothy), joining big sister Orli. We’re very conscious of our grandparents’ generation, it seems. I am working on a book for Riverhead/Penguin press on the lover my grandfather left behind when he fled Vienna (tentatively due out in fall 2014).”

Congrats to all on the exciting news! Keep the updates coming.

DARA FEDERMAN and DACQUE TIRADO
darasf@yahoo.com
dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Obituaries | 1990-19991996/10/262013/10/27

MARGARET (MEG) L. ZUPANCIC ’96

MARGARET (MEG) L. ZUPANCIC, 36, a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland Medical School, died Oct. 7, 2010, one day after giving birth to her second son. After receiving her degree from Wesleyan magna cum laude, she received a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her research centered on the interaction of the human microbiome with the genetic bases of obesity. She was also a talented clarinetist and an accomplished backcountry explorer. Survivors include her husband, Bill Vinje, her parents, two children, and her sister, Nellie Zupancic ’00. Her brother died in 1999.

Obituaries | 1990-19991996/10/032013/10/27

EVE ERIN CROWELL ’96

With deep grief, I submit this obituary of my daughter Eve Erin Crowell ’96. She was proud of graduating from the school.

Thank you,
Barbara Crowell Roy

Eve Erin Crowell, 30, of 1232 North Flores, West Hollywood, California, died suddenly at her home on February 24, 2005. The daughter of Barbara (Lepley Crowell) Roy of Newport, Rhode Island and Sachseln Switzerland and Dr. Robert Crowell of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Eve was born on November 4, 1974,in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eve Crowell was educated at Williston Northampton School, in Easthampton, Mass., and was a 1996 graduate of Wesleyan University. In May of 2002, she received a JD degree from the Law School of UCLA.

In October 2002, Ms. Crowell joined the prominent law firm of Kirkland and Ellis in Los Angeles. There she rapidly gained a reputation for intelligence, hard work, and collegiality. Eve worked in the litigation division, and she distinguished herself by winning the firm’s national mock trial competitions in 2003 and 2004. She was a member of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association.

Eve Crowell was an excellent athlete, and she participated in numerous triathlons and marathons in California.

She is survived by her parents and her brother, Wyatt E. Crowell of Dallas, Texas. Other survivors include her stepmother, Mary Woodson Crowell, her stepfather, Dr. Vance Roy, her stepbrother, John P. Dennis III of Houston, Texas, and her stepsister, Jennifer D. Farley of Saugerties, New York.

A memorial service was held on March 3, 2005 at the Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale California. Burial will be private. Donations in her honor may be sent to Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives in care of Mr. William Heckel, 210 Montezuma, Suite 100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501-2681 (telephone 505 983-8699).