CLASS OF 1999 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE
For some of us, 2022 has been a year of change but also a time to reconnect with friends and classmates. In April, Brian LaCarrubba and his wife (along with their three cats who had no input on this decision) left Denver after 20 years to move to Madison, Wisconsin. They are appreciating being in a college town and one where the growth is not quite as explosive as it was in Denver. Then just when Brian thought his focus was going to be on settling into a new city, a new job opportunity came along! In July, he started working at RubinBrown as a consultant helping organizations navigate large technology projects. While he works remotely from Madison, his new-hire orientation in Chicago afforded him the opportunity to catch up with Frantz Williams who happened to be staying at a hotel on the same block for a conference.
Chad Bartell is also in Madison, Wisconsin, where he continues to practice law by day and play music by night. His steel-drum band, Panchromatic Steel, performed alongside steel-drum luminary Andy Narell in a citywide music festival in August. He is collaborating remotely with Kabir Sen on the further development of an original composition first performed at Kabir’s senior thesis recital at Wesleyan.
Arthur Baraf had the good fortune to see some live music in New Hampshire this summer with Greg Tuzzolo ’00, where they ran into Eric Werner ’00.
He also spent some time this summer with Jed Koslow (who just moved to Berlin with his family after being in Brooklyn for 20 years) and Bill Foster. Arthur is starting his 17th year as a high school principal at The Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island.
For others, 2022 has been a year of new beginnings. Leila Buck and husband Adam Abel ’98 have a joyful update to share—they welcomed their daughter into the world on March 12th of this year. Her name is Zayya, which means hope and faith in Arabic. They figured that we could all use more of those in these times! Leila is “grateful, sleep deprived, and sending energy and wishes for support to all of you out there giving care in so many forms.”
And finally, 2022 has been a year of notable accomplishments for some of our classmates. Through a highly competitive process with applicants from all over the world, Erik Rueter was selected to speak at Project Management Institute’s 2022 Global Summit. He will be leading an interactive session on using human-centered design to enable engagement and inclusivity on project teams.
Rachel Quinn received a Schomburg Fellowship! She will be a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from this September through June 2023 to work on her second book. Folks should reach out if they want to connect in NYC. https://uh.edu/class/news/archive/2022/july/feminist-scholar-rachel-quinn-awarded-esteemed-schomburg-fellowship/
Megan Wolff and Eve Fox are working together at Beyond Plastics (www.beyondplastics.org), a project of Bennington College that aims to end plastic pollution everywhere, led by former U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck. Megan and Eve partnered on a new guide to help restaurants reduce plastic that went live in July. https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/restaurant-guide-to-reducing-plastic
Kevin has had multiple Wes run-ins through work lately. He met David Burke ’10 at The Conference Board in NYC. David is leading wellness and benefits for IBM. Despite being from slightly different eras, they shared experiences of MoCon, Clark Hall (David citing the “new Clark,” not the condemned version of the late 90s) and learning how to think. Kevin also reconnected with Jonathan Bush ’93, who continues to shake up the world of health care and drag it into the modern era of technology.
May the rest of 2022 be full of change, hope, and connection.