CLASS OF 1997 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
What a full 2016 and it is only February. Thank you to everyone that contributed. Let’s get to it!
Steven Tejada paid me a personal visit on a recent trip to NYC. My high school classmate, In-town roommate, and brother-for-life will relocate from Boston to Washington, D.C.—he was appointed the new Head of Upper School at The Maret School beginning July 1st. He continues to speak and perform throughout the country with his one-man show. In addition, his family welcomed another member—a baby boy. Super excited for mi hermano.
Matthew Fogelman wrote in to share that Wesleyan support was in full effect for the wonderful honor bestowed upon Seth Spector, as he was inducted into the Middletown Hall of Fame on a warm night in January. Matt, along with Raphael Crawford, Jack Eighmy, Armando Petruzziello ’98, and Gabe Wieder ’98 were fortunate enough to join Seth and his mom, Kate (and many others) for the induction ceremony. Longtime Wes track coach J. Elmer Swanson was also inducted.
Meanwhile, Matt’s wife, Amy Goorin Fogelman, reports: “After 10 years at Mass General Hospital, I have decided to cut down on my commute and I am continuing to practice internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Chestnut Hill. I miss my old patients, though the good news is that I am finally accepting new ones, so if anyone needs a PCP, give me a holler!”
Abe Velez reconnected to update us with the happenings in his world: “I continue to do audio business development for ABC News and enjoy the Langone MBA program at NYU Stern, with the support of my wife, Sarah, and our fabulous second-grader, Frida. I was lucky enough to get briefly stuck in San Francisco during January’s storm and stay with Adam Rodnitzky—an evening filled with trading of puns that left us very amused, and his girlfriend, not so much. Recently saw Katharine Bailey and Ben Selkow ’96 at the home of my onetime neighbor Ned Gusick ’90. And then there’s the mystery of how most of us have turned 40…”
Andrew Frishman has been super consistent with keeping us informed on his world: “As I’ve mentioned in previous notes, I am the co-executive director of Big Picture Learning. Just last week I was visiting The Met High School in Providence, (which is the “mother ship” of the Big Picture Learning Network) and I had the particular privilege of enjoying a ‘philosophy literacy group’ that Arthur Baraf ’99 was leading. Arthur has the group of high school students enrolled and each week the students watch a lecture, do supplementary readings, and then engage in discussion and debate (Arthur serves as the TA). Took me back to my days at Wesleyan! In other news, it was fun to take my kids out to see the Wesleyan squash teams play in an invitational tournament in the fall up here in Cambridge. Go, Wes!”
I received a first-time submission from Bettina Berg Segal who shared, “After nearly 10 years of living abroad, across four continents and three babies later, I’m happy to say that my family and I have finally moved back to New York. It’s been great to be close to old friends… Jessica D’Amore, Mia Lobel, Anita Crabtree Mitra, Laura Roberts and Kerry Biancamano Coppola. And yes, I am an awesome packer.”
David Vine wrote: “I’ll be unabashedly self-promotional in saying that my book Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World (Henry Holt, 2015) just came out. The book shows how our country is encircling the globe with some 800 bases in foreign lands—and how these oft-forgotten installations cause an array of ills for everyone from U.S. military personnel and their families to locals living next to our bases to U.S. taxpayers who pay the $150 billion per year bill to maintain bases and troops overseas. Although many assume that these bases make the U.S. and the world safer, our military installations abroad are, in a range of ways, actually undermining national and global security. All the proceeds from Base Nation are going to organizations supporting veterans and other victims of war. People can read more about the book, check out its 16 maps, and learn more about bases overseas at basenation.us.”
Kimberly Gilbert shared, “After living in Canada for six years, my husband, Jared Carbone, and I have returned to live in his hometown of Boulder, Colo., with our two girls, Louisa (7) and Beatrice (1.5). I’m a writer and Jared is a professor of economics at the School of Mines. We’re thrilled that being back in the U.S. has given us the chance to visit and catch up with several Wes friends, including Naomi Pressman, Rachel Ruane, Matthew Rattigan, Lucas Edwards, and Emily Weinstein.”
“I am enjoying a year-long sabbatical from my job at the University of Nottingham to start a new book on relations between medieval Russia and the Byzantine empire. Turns out, it’s all about the Crimea. Thanks to what’s left of the British welfare state, I was lucky enough to have over seven months of maternity leave following the birth of Morris Whitehill in November 2014,” writes Monica White.
In January, Noah Garrison and his wife, Michelle, welcomed the birth of their son, Bryce Cameron Garrison, in Santa Monica. Everyone is doing well, and they’re looking forward to Bryce joining his older (canine) brother, Dexter, for lots of Calvin and Hobbes-style exploring. Noah left his job as a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council last year to run an environmental science and policy capstone program at UCLA, and has gone back to his Wes E&ES roots to teach an intro geology class as well.
Jessica McInroy Thompson and Mike Thompson ’96 met up with fellow Californians Maria Magaña, her husband Aaron Miller, and newlyweds Allison Perlman and Trevor Griffey for pre-Grammy dinner and drinks. Jessica was nominated for the Best Historical Album Grammy for remastering Erroll Garner’s The Complete Concert By the Sea. After a dozen years in NYC, Jessica and Mike recently relocated to Berkeley with their two kids, Clyde and Margot. Jessica now works out of Coast Mastering in Berkeley, and Mike is in his eighth year of running the music licensing library, The Diner.
As of May 2016, I, Kimberly Cooper King will have completed my master of science degree in integrated marketing from New York University, with a concentration in brand management. Working full time and going to school part time through fall, spring, and summer semesters, with a growing 4-year-old hasn’t been an easy balancing act, but happy to have made magic happen in just 2-½ years. I’m also proud to announce that I’ve been elected as a trustee with The Oliver Scholars Program (oliverscholars.org). As an alum of the 30-year-old program that prepares high-achieving African-American and Latino students for success at top independent high schools and prestigious colleges, I’m looking forward to supporting an organization that has made a difference in my life and the lives of so many other Wesleyan alums.
And my final update… After almost four years as your class secretary, I must announce this is my last official column. It has been great hearing from you, and I am now placing you in two pairs of great hands—BFF’s no less, Jessica Shea Lehmann and Sasha Lewis Reisen. They are super excited to share the duty of reporting the #ThisIsWhy happenings of our year so be sure to submit your updates to them moving forward.
Do note, Wesleyan is in my blood so I will still continue with my own #ThisIsWhy mission working with The Wesleyan Fund alongside Justin Clark, David Levin and Marisa Uchin as well as the Wesleyan Alumni of Color Council with super chair Ray Sanchez ’00 and Associate Director of Alumni & Parent Relations Greg Bernard. Service is a lifestyle. Be sure to have a fabulous spring.
Kimberly King | kimberly.king715@gmail.com