CLASS OF 2005 | 2020 | ISSUE 2
Ben Shestakofsky and Isheh Beck welcomed baby Milo into their family in January. They will be moving to Philadelphia this summer. Ben teaches sociology at Penn, and Isheh will be opening a private practice in clinical psychology.
Cathy Pyenson and Jonathan McKinney ’04 gave birth to Hudson Avery McKinney in April! He has been sporting his Wesleyan onesie thanks to Molly Greenberg, and his first (distanced) visitors included Molly and Ellie Terry.
A week after local shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Alexander Rich became a partner at Carter Momsen PC, a five-attorney law firm located in Mendocino County, Calif. His practice focuses on estate planning and administration, as well as general civil litigation. Alexander has also been mentoring two boys in a program for students who will be the first in their families to go to college. After five years in the program, his boys are now on the verge of graduating from high school, though given the current state of the world, it is hard to say what their experience will be like this fall.
In May, Nathan Victoria became the inaugural executive director and CEO for the Society for Personality Assessment, a nonprofit focused on advancing the theory, research, and applied practice of personality assessment. Many thanks to his Wes colleagues Alexis May, and Amy ’07 and Kevin Egolf for their insight into making this leap outside of higher ed and student affairs!
Maggie and Eli Brown ’04 had their third baby, a boy, in June. They have a 6-year-old son, Sebastian, and a 3-year-old daughter, Simone, already. They live in Nyack, N.Y. Eli is an ER doctor in the local hospital, Nyack Montefiore. Maggie is an assistant principal at a K-2 elementary school in a nearby district. They send their love to all.
Katie Walsh is living and working in Highland Park, Los Angeles, where she is a film critic for the Tribune News Service and LA Times. She contributes to Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, as well as other publications, and can be heard on KCRW’s Press Play, and on the Maximum Fun podcast, Switchblade Sisters. She also teaches a class, Practices of Writing About Film, at Chapman University in Orange County.
During the hand sanitizer shortage in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, Sivan Cotel ’05, MA ’06 coordinated a coalition of three distilleries, a kombucha company, and the University of Vermont Health Network (of which he is a board trustee) to produce thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer. Working with Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s office, the Health Network was able to distribute sanitizer to hospitals and first responders all around Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northern New York.
Todd and Adam Stone are excited to share that their web series Going Both Ways has received laurels from five different festivals and competitions! They are very proud of them and could not have created Going Both Ways without the support of their network (GoingBothWaysShow.com).
I have to share the sad news that one of our classmates, Andrew Stuerzel, passed away suddenly in April. Andrew worked at Wesleyan for 10 years in various positions in admission, the advancement office, and University Relations. It’s always heartbreaking to hear of a classmate who passed away too soon. Give your loved ones an extra hug today and let us support one another in whatever ways we can.
Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com