CLASS OF 1991 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE
Peter H. Kim, professor of management and organization at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, is in the final stages of copyediting his first book. How Trust Works: The Science of How Relationships are Built, Broken, and Repaired, encapsulates more than 20 years of research on trust and will be published by Flatiron Books, August 2023. Peter and his wife, Beth Fortune, an interior architect, live with their chihuahua mix in Santa Monica.
Sarah Blustain joined ProPublica in January 2021, to help lead the Local Reporting Network, which coordinates with local and regional newsrooms to create year-long investigations.
Nikki Harmon is the program director for SIFTMedia 215 Collective, a cooperative that centers Black and Latinx women-identified media artists who work in the Philadelphia area. Nikki produced two short films this year and Tonight, We Eat Flowers, premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival in August. She is also the author of two novels centering on Black lesbian women, When I Was Your Girlfriend and Neither Here Nor There. Nikki and her partner of 21 years, Kelly, are the parents of three teenagers: Eli, Selena, and Natalie.
Betsy Klimasmith, an English professor at UMass Boston, participated in a week-long seminar at the American Antiquarian Society called On Stage: Spectacle in the Nineteenth-Century America, led by Wendy Bellion, who is a professor of art history and associate dean of humanities at the University of Delaware College of Arts and Sciences.
Betsy writes, “Wendy put together a brilliant seminar that brought together a multi-disciplinary group of scholars to work on visual materials related to early U.S. theater and performance. What a treat it was to be a student in Wendy’s class—it brought back memories of some of our best classes at Wes.”
Speaking of Wes, Betsy’s son Isaac ’20 enjoyed his delayed commencement this June, and married his college sweetheart, Mariel Baitenmann-Middlebrook ’20 in July.
George Irvine, married to Wendy Bellion, is also at University of Delaware, as associate vice provost for Professional and Continuing Studies and Online Initiatives, helping nontraditional students advance their education. Their son, Luke, heads to Fordham University, excited to study the liberal arts in NYC and eat awesome pizza.
Rebeca Rumayor reports her son James is thriving at Indian Springs School in Pelham, Alabama, where as a ninth grader he takes on the added responsibility of being an RA. Rebeca is looking forward to once again volunteering at Sundance Film Festival in January 2023.
Laura Fine lives in the Boston area and is preparing to be an empty nester. Her son Henry will begin junior year at Connecticut College and daughter Hannah is about to start her first year at Wesleyan.
Greg Mandel is now the provost and chief academic officer at Temple University in Philadelphia, as well as the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law. He’s adjusting to life as an empty nester and contemplating that his kids are the same age (or older!) as we were at Wesleyan.
Ann Goebel-Fabbri is officially back in the office after more than two years of conducting tele-psychology from her third-floor-attic guest room. Ann is happy to return to in person, though some patients prefer the convenience of telehealth, so she’ll be in “hybrid” practice for the foreseeable future.
Ann and Bill Fabbri are anxious and excited for their daughter Kate’s first year at Oberlin. The transition will no doubt be assisted by the many other Wes alum parents also dropping off their kids in Ohio.
More drop-offs with Wes connections: Carrie Mosher Gadaleta’s daughter Jessie and Michele (Barth) Still’s son George both start Lafayette College in Pennsylvania this autumn.
Carrie is executive managing director at JLL. She just published her first book, Feed Your Future: Morsels on Building a Meaningful Career, a compilation of her LinkedIn stories from the past four years. Her goal with the posts and the book is to inspire and grow the next generation of leaders in commercial real estate and beyond. Carrie’s older daughter Shelby is class of 2024.
Michele, when not coordinating drop-offs with childhood friend Carrie, checks in on daughter Anna in D.C. and son Henry in NYC. While still Houston-based, Michele has her eye on New England, with a recent property purchase in Vermont. We all know Texas still needs her, with her efforts on behalf of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and various political campaigns.
Joshua Samuels is now vice chair of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science in Houston, the same school where his oldest daughter just started medical school.
Beth Haney and Scott Moore celebrated the graduation of daughter Lea Moore ’22 in May. They connected with Gregg Ribbatt ’90, many members of the class of 1992, and both Chris ’89 and Johannah Townsend whose daughter Rachel ’22, graduated as well.
Beth continues her role with Avenues for Youth, a nonprofit focused on supporting young adults experiencing homelessness. Scott is focused on all things start-up. One endeavor is the Wesleyan-focused WeSpark! and includes classmates Cecilia Pohorille McCall, Kiff Gallagher, and Lexy Funk, as well as alums from other years. The goal is to help aspiring and existing entrepreneurs across the alumni base. https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/connect/WeSpark.html. Scott is also a partner in Colaboratory.io, a new platform to facilitate brand x brand collaborations.
Cecilia and Jonathan Moss independently stopped in the Twin Cities to visit with Scott and Beth this year, and they expect more classmates to hit them up in St Paul!
Speaking of Jon Moss, he persuaded Brian Harlin to join him in a dragon boat race event at the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club. Brian connected with rower Mark Hunter ’92, who is prospering personally and professionally in Burlington, Vermont.
Brian also reports on serendipity, as one of his closest high school friends, Mark Sullivan, married our classmate Janine Manzo Sullivan. Their kids, like Brian’s, “are successfully moving off to college and life is good.”
I was also on campus at this year’s Reunion & Commencement weekend, though for a more somber affair as the swim team memorialized Michael Mahon ’89. This bittersweet gathering brought together many friends from many class years, but it was special to see all of the class of ’91 swimmers: myself, Jennifer Zoltners Sherer, Maria Floyd Cohen, Dana Schultz, Doug Bothner, Bill Fabbri, and Ernie Luikart (who is also claimed by ’90).
Take care and stay in touch!