CLASS OF 1986 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
We will be meeting soon in Middletown for our 30th Reunion, so here is a brief update from some of your classmates.
Dan Barrett has a new book: Social Psychology: Core Concepts and Emerging Trends (Sage Press); he is a professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, happily married, and living in Redding, Conn. In the same field, Alex Rothman remains busy with research and teaching as a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota and continues to enjoy life in Minneapolis. Son #1 is at Bowdoin, so there’s only one at home who is barely surviving now as the sole focus of attention. Alex looks forward to catching up with folks in May.
Also in Minnesota, Lydia Crawford is still with Wells Fargo, working in the law department as a consumer credit attorney, and her husband Phil Davies is also in the financial industry as an editor writer for the publications of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. “Neither of us would ever have thought that our careers would lead us to banking, but such are the vagaries of life. Our two kids appear to have outgrown us in every way—Owen (17) quite literally, as he is the tallest in the family by several inches—although we do manage to have dinner together almost every night and have a little family outing most weekends just to take us away from our respective screens, work, activities, etc.”
Tavy Ronen lives in NYC with her 16-year-old daughter and is a finance professor at Rutgers University. She is the founding director of the Business of Fashion Programs at Rutgers Business School and of the Business of Fashion Research Center. Tavy is the academic affiliate of Stanford Consulting Group and provides expert testimony on securities litigation cases, primarily in matters relating to credit markets and market microstructure. When not working on the above, she runs The Yarn Company, a groovy art-fiber yarn store in Manhattan, which she owns with her brother.
Elaine Taylor-Klaus says her business, ImpactADHD.com continues to expand globally, providing behavior management and parent training for parents of complex kids around the globe. Last year, she did workshops in London and Melbourne and she’s also working on a book.
Paula Holm Jensen noted that after 22 years as a lawyer, 18 years in Portland, Ore., and 11 years in solo practice (IP, technology licensing and commercial contracts), she joined one of her long-time clients as general counsel this March. “For fun, I sing in a choir dedicated to performing Bach cantatas and other baroque works, and I root for Portland’s pro soccer teams: the Timbers, Thorns and T2. I haven’t missed a Reunion since graduation, so you’ll find me—as always—at Alpha Delt.”
Ellen Santistevan wrote about her children: “My children are taking center stage as they move into adulthood. My youngest son, Mark, graduates from high school this spring. My middle child, Dorothe, is getting married one week after that (and so I’ll miss Reunion). My firstborn child came out as transgender last spring and now goes by the name Felix. That’s been perhaps the biggest one to deal with, although overall, planning a wedding is more stressful. My eldest daughter, Lauren, has a sweet little girl that I get to baby sit sometimes, and her older son is going into high school this fall.”
Daniel Seltzer writes about his music. “I could write about empty nest, work stories, feeling my age…but I’ll just say that I’ve finally gotten back to playing music and love it passionately. While trying to make up for lost time, I’m playing funk/rock/blues/jazz with a variety of people in NYC and am always interested in meeting others who enjoy group improv with a deep groove. All the other stuff seems easier to deal with when you’ve got music in your life.”
Monica Jahan Bose is living in Washington, D.C., after many years in Tokyo, New York, and Paris. “I am still married to Michael S. Bennett ’87 (not the Senator!). We met in 1987 at Columbia Law and we have two daughters. I spend most of my time on what I call “artivism,” art and advocacy. Since 2012, I have been working on a collaborative project called Storytelling with Saris with women from my ancestral village in Bangladesh, drawing attention to issues of gender and climate change. This year, I am trying to make a film about the project.”
Brian Grzelkowski escaped D.C. after 10 years there. He moved with his son and wife Beatrix to rural Bucks County, Pa. “I had already switched from a career in international humanitarian aid to high school teaching, so trading a bustling city for an old stone house and some acres of land seemed like a good step in regaining quality of life. Beatrix has reestablished her psychotherapy and distance-counseling practice and I’m now rediscovering some of the outdoors and lumberjacking skills of my childhood in Maine. With the exception of regular taunts from brazen and hungry deer, we’re all settling in nicely, and hopefully a few Wes folks to stop by for a visit.”
From our Facebook Group, Nicholas Waltner says his daughter will be going to Wesleyan this fall. Timothy Burke notes he won’t be at Reunion; it’s exam period at Swarthmore. Andrea Wojnar Diagne is working to promote reproductive health in Africa. George Justice hopes to come to Reunion; he’s dean of humanities at Arizona State University and recovering (I hope) from his own nasty cancer year. Sandy Goldstein is living in Westchester, N.Y., and Mike Sealander “is alive and living in eastern Maine.” And the closing update: Steven Meyer and his wife, Julia, had a daughter in October—perhaps Elena will go to Wes 18 years from now!
Susanna Wenniger and Rudd Kierstead are still married after 23 years! Still living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Rudd is still working in healthcare, now as director of Physician Network at Weill Cornell, and still creating amazing food for all their friends. Susanna is still working for Artnet.com as the senior specialist of photographs for the online auctions. She writes, “We have a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old who are polar opposites in every way imaginable. I see a lot of Shirley Hedden ’82, as our kids went to the same neighborhood school and we are still part of the same Mom group for the past 12 years. Rudd lunches with Ben Sternlieb ’85 on a weekly basis. And I was thrilled to get a visit last summer from Sarah Flanders, who is practicing as a psychiatrist in Pittsburgh. Seeing her again made me realize how much I want to reconnect to so many of the people whom I have fallen out of touch with! I hope to make it to Reunion.”
Several have written me saying, “We’re not yet sure whether we can make Reunion, but are going to try. We know it’ll be a lot of fun!” See you soon.
Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu