CLASS OF 2008 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
As usual, the Class of ’08 is doing impressive work! Paul Johnson writes: “I finally wrapped up a PhD in bioengineering last year, then started a job at Apple. I can’t really say much about what I’m working on, except that I sit at a computer a lot of the time, use a mouse, type on a keyboard, that sort of thing (I’ve said too much).”
Meanwhile, Lauren Goldman moved back to New York in June and is working at a solar energy company. She was happy to ring in the New Year in Brooklyn with Rashida Richardson, Annie Shepard ’09, and Molly Birnbaum ’09.
Karla Hargrave is working as a trekking guide in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile for six months, collecting research material for her next theatrical creation: a world traveling multimedia experience about climate change, the things we don’t want to change, and how to push for the solutions that we need. She is seeking a team of artists, scientists, lawyers, engineers, administrators, and of course, funders. Home base: Oakland, Calif.
Lucy Bickerton writes: “I was married this summer in Mexico to Cedric Vara, an ’06 Vassar alum. We met working on a film production, although I have since made a career change, and was just accepted to medical school! In the meantime, I am teaching chemistry at Hunter College and trying to make the most of my precious free time before classes start in August. I have had a blast reliving my college roommate days this month, with Stephanie Calvert staying in my guest room in Park Slope after she had an apartment fire.” Before the fire, Stephanie started working on a new art project, Shame to Pride, in the summer of 2014. This past November (2015) the work culminated with two solo shows, one in Dumbo (Brooklyn), one in the Lower East Side. The New York Times also wrote about her work on opening day of the Dumbo show: takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/a-mothers-hoarding-a-daughters-art/?_r=1
Daniel Collins and his wife just had a baby on Sept 25. Marianna Foos got her MS in bioinformatics in August. She jokes, “I think the peak number of Wes alums at the Boston Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Meetup was five, which is pretty solid for a field you’ve never heard of.” D. Ross Pemmerl writes: “I was selected as one of American Cancer Society’s two sponsored runners for the 2016 Boston Marathon. Interestingly enough, the other representative selected was Caroline Mead ’15. Both Caroline and I will be running to raise money for the American Cancer Society with all donations going to fund cancer research, maintain ACS care facilities, and support their outreach programs. If anyone is interested in learning more and/or donating to the cause, please e-mail me at rosspemmerl@gmail.com or look me up on FB (Ross Pemmerl). I’m running to honor my father who passed away from cancer my junior year at Wes, and I am excited to tackle the 26.2 in his memory!”
Jacob Mirsky says, “I moved to Boston (well, Brookline) with Gavriel Elkind ’09 to start my residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital on my path to becoming a primary care doctor. The stars aligned over Christmas, when I worked with my freshman (one-bedroom) roommate, Zack Frosch, on the cardiology service. I then had the pleasure of spending a weekend in Portland, Maine, at the winter chalet of Oren Gersten and Olivia Dooley ’09, which included cross-country skiing out their front door with their impressively well-behaved dog, Toby (Wes class TBD).”
Oren Gersten adds, “In November, my dog had a bowel obstruction caused by a corn cob. Luckily Ezra Steinberg ’01, VMD, was working that night and performed an emergency ex-lap and fixed him right up. Thanks, Dr. Steinberg!”
Alicia Collen Zeidan | acollen@wesleyan.edu