CLASS OF 1991 | 2019 | ISSUE 2
David K. Thomson was appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court and took the oath of office in February. A Santa Fe native, David invites Wes alumni to apply for law clerk positions.
The year 2019 has brought a big change for Kim Buxenbaum, as she takes on the role of director of special education for the New Jersey Department of Education.
Due to the closure of his Boston Regional Office, Bill Kirsner transferred to his Federal agency’s D.C. Regional Office where he will continue to serve as a regional attorney. Bill has reconnected with some D.C. alumni and looks forward to seeing others in the area.
Monica Edwards Moody is a learning and development specialist for a local agency in the Atlanta area, while growing her business as a certified career coach and trainer at Owning Change. She’s served a number of Wesleyan grads (including me) through her business, from offering coaching and writing résumés to facilitating a group session last year for amazing alumnae in Turks and Caicos. Monica says, “Life in the ATL is pretty sweet, as I enjoy the fruits of a 22-year marriage and watch my girls morph into amazing young women.” The eldest completed her bachelor’s in 2018 from Barnard College and Columbia University and heads to Harvard to complete a degree in arts education. And the “little one,” a high school sophomore and soccer star, has her sights set on Stanford.
Sarah Hughes and husband Jeff Hughes ’93 live in Santa Monica, Calif., with their daughters, Maddie, 15, and Willa, 11. Last year, Sarah left the chief of staff position at KIPP Los Angeles Schools, and now works as a consultant to public school systems. Most recently, she assisted a local school district through a reconfiguration from K-8 schools to traditional elementary and middle schools. Sarah and Jeff spend lots of time on soccer fields, watching their daughters play and watching LA’s professional team, LAFC.
When Opium Moon’s eponymous debut won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album this year, “Thank you, Julie Yannatta” were the first words uttered by the band from the stage. Julie is founder and owner of the record label Be Why Music and this was the second time in three years that she heard her name from the Grammy stage. In 2017, the artist White Sun won Best New Age Album for the Be Why Music release, White Sun II.
Jonathan Moss is transitioning through a divorce by rowing, biking, whitewater kayaking, and working in health care finance in western Massachusetts. Friends and family help balance the new life, and the Wesleyan network plays a key role, as he rowed a double recently with Emma Koramshahi ’16.
Adam Wilbrecht is now a principal at Cuningham Group Architecture, where he focuses on tech innovations for buildings through the Internet of things and wellness monitoring.
Scott Moore joined Wynn Resorts as their chief marketing officer and splits his time between Las Vegas and Boston. Beth Haney wraps up her current role leading operations for The Works!, a children’s museum based in the Twin Cities and she’s looking forward to the next chapter as an empty nester. Daughter Lea ’21 will start junior year at Wesleyan where she studies theater and is actively involved across the arts community. Son Ryan begins his first year at Colby through the global entry program, spending his first semester in Salamanca, Spain. After more than 20 years in Minnesota, this autumn marks the first time when there will be more Haney-Moores outside the state than in it.
Michael Nachmanoff and Kiki Price Nachmanoff’s [’90] daughter Clara ’21 is also at Wesleyan. Their daughter Anna begins Tufts and plans to play volleyball, giving the family two NESCAC college students. Youngest daughter Charlotte starts eighth grade in the fall.
Dan Matz’s daughter is, you guessed it, starting her junior year at Wes, and his son will be in the class of 2023. After 20 years teaching at the same high school in San Francisco, Dan is taking leave to devote himself to woodworking and a bit of travel—a respite that’s been years in the making.
Maria Floyd Cohen reports from Oregon that her son Miles ’23 will be attending Wesleyan. Maria’s architecture business in Portland is doing well.
Michelle Wien teaches biology to postbaccalaureate premedical students at Bryn Mawr College, and has had the pleasure of teaching several alumni over the years. Michelle’s daughter, Julia ’23, is beginning Wesleyan in August.
Please, will someone start a Wes alumni kids spreadsheet for me? I’m losing track!
Joining the NESCAC drop-off parade, Lizandra Vega reports that daughter Julianna will attend Trinity in the fall on the 1823 Scholarship. She and husband Steve Brown live in Westchester, with son Christian, 10. Lizandra is as an executive search recruiter across the beauty, luxury, and lifestyle sectors, 22 years and counting!
Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu