CLASS OF 1989 | 2026| SPRING ISSUE

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Doug Abel was recently nominated for an editing and writing Emmy for his work on HBO’s Chimp Crazy, which shares DNA with another project of his, the COVID-era phenomenon Tiger King. Other recent editing projects include the documentary You Had to Be There, about the 1972 production of Godspell that launched the careers of several well-known comedians and performers, as well as The Sinner starring Bill Pullman. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Jenny, two dogs, four cats, two chickens, and a rotating cadre of rescued foster animals.

Eileen Mullin became a living liver donor for her brother in October, donating 60% of her liver and recovering surprisingly quickly with no complications. Although she lives in New York, she spent a month in Colorado for the procedure and follow-up care. She notes that they are at the upper edge of the age cutoff for liver donors, but that kidney donation has a much wider age range, and she hopes—after reaching the 12-month mark—to donate a kidney as well. She describes the experience as truly life changing.

Oona Metz decided that the best way to deal with an empty nest was to have another baby—this time, a book. After 30 years as a therapist, including 15 specializing in women navigating divorce, she decided it was time for a book baby and then had to figure out how to write, publish, and promote it. Remembering that her Clark first-floor neighbor Lucas Janklow had family ties to publishing, she reached out. He immediately “walked her proposal down the hall” to Mel Flashman ’98, a dream-come-true literary agent. The book sold, followed by a year of weekend writing and another year learning book promotion. Four years later, a one-pound book was born: Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women, now available wherever books are sold.

Peter Badalament has launched an educational consulting company, The Principal, which provides individualized guidance to families of high school–age students, while he continues to serve as principal of A. R. Gould School at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in Maine. With three decades of experience as a teacher and school leader, he consults on academic placement, securing appropriate school supports, and planning for postsecondary pathways.

Sarah Risser relocated from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul—a place she will probably always consider home—to Portland, Oregon, in 2022 and has been enjoying the change tremendously. She spends a fair amount of time advocating for improved road safety and active and public transit, primarily with Families for Safe Streets. She is very proud of her daughter Nina, 28, now in her second year at Harvard Law School and continues to grieve the loss of her son, Henry, who was killed at age 18 in a vehicular crash in January 2019; he was not at fault, and Sarah survived the crash. She is still rowing with the Willamette Rowing Club, hiking as much as she can, and working toward a more consistent sauna and cold-water plunge practice.

Michele Chase reports that her son, Alessandro Kashap ’25, graduated with a mathematics major and has entered the workforce in New Jersey, working in health-care consulting with ZS Associates. She is otherwise enjoying what she calls “free birding” (a positive spin on empty nesting), with travel for work and pleasure, hiking in the Bay Area, the occasional pickleball game, and visits to her children in New Jersey and San Luis Obispo, California.

Michele’s global work at Gilead Sciences in 2025 took her to Paris, Dublin, Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, and multiple trips to London, where part of her team is based, and she enjoyed extending those visits to take in art, culture, and performances. She also enjoyed a family trip to Greece this summer to connect with part of her roots. She and a group of classmates—including Susan Paley, Caron Selati, Jennifer Levine, Michele Barnwell, Stephanie Dolgoff, Natalie Dorset, Betsey Schmidt, Lesley Savin, Laura Flaxman—have continued the tradition of gathering annually since reconnecting at their 25th Reunion.

Kim Slote recently earned her Master of Social Work from Florida State University and will soon be relocating to Philadelphia, with big changes ahead. She would be happy to hear from classmates in the area.

Holly Adams reports that her daughter and her partner welcomed a baby, and her son got married. Life continues to be good as a full-time performer, and her pet project—a quirky sci-fi mystery podcast called The Mysterious CHIRP—has just launched its second season. She sends warm wishes to the Class of ’89 for a wonderful 2026.

Nina Karnovsky is a professor of biology at Pomona College, a small liberal arts college similar to Wesleyan. This past fall she served as the convocation speaker, where she reflected on how her liberal arts education at Wesleyan shaped her life’s journey. Her talk can be viewed athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YXg1FTosc&t=7s.

In July 2025, Kelem Butts began a new role as executive director of Uptown Dallas Inc., a public improvement district in Dallas. He reports that the position is a great fit and that he feels completely in his element, combining civic engagement with an extroverted role he truly enjoys. He adds that it is a nonprofit that requires no fundraising, and that life is good.

Jen Feldman serves as rabbi at Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, now in her 24th year helping to build Jewish community there. Over the years, she has enjoyed having many fellow Wesleyan alumni as congregants and seeing children from the synagogue head off to Wesleyan. She also made a summer trip to New York City, where she spent time with longtime friend Natasha Kurchanova ’88 and her husband, Ron.

When not practicing employment and labor law for employers, Jeffrey Naness plays keyboards in several Long Island–based bands and ensembles, including The Breakfast Club (’80s), Common Ground (’80s), Society Road (classic/yacht rock), and Memory Lane Acoustic Trio. He extends a cordial invitation to classmates to check out upcoming gigs and follow the bands on Facebook and Instagram.

Stephanie Dolgoff is the editor of Prevention magazine and feels lucky to be doing work she loves, even as the industry, in her words, “circles the potty” and resources are tight. She is still learning and taking that as a win. Her daughter, Viv, graduated from Sarah Lawrence in May and is working and writing, and Willow is finishing college, teaching art at Trans formative Schools (a trans-founded program for queer kids) and reading to the wee ones in drag.

Laura Flaxman moved to Oahu and would love to connect with other Wes folks in the area. 

Alissa Berman retired in 2024 and remarried that September. Life is very good, and she is loving not having to “report in” to anyone anymore. Her husband’s son welcomed a baby, making her a grandmother as well—a role she notes is much easier than parenting. She remains in Rhode Island with no intention of leaving and wishes everyone a wonderful 2026.

Jeff Brez is living in Rome with his husband of more than 30 years, Adriano, and their 11-year-old twin boys. He currently works in the Office of the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He and other Wesleyan alumni have started a Wes group in Rome, and classmates are welcome to send him a cell number to be added to the “WesinRome” WhatsApp group for raucous monthly aperitivos and general camaraderie. He can be reached at jeffreybrez@yahoo.com or via LinkedIn.

Daniel Cantor is a full professor and head of the BFA Acting Program at the University of Michigan and appreciates having space there to pursue freelance work as well. Recent projects include performing in Waste at Marin Theatre Company and acting in the indie film 30-Year-Old Bar Mitzvah. Upcoming work includes directing a short film he wrote and returning to Marin Theatre to perform in Pictures from Home. A few years ago, he appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt. He has one daughter, Olive, who will graduate from Boston University in May as a film major. He remains in regular touch with Pete [Ward] Farnsworth and Ted Skillman ’91 and recently reconnected with Eric Slovin and Mike Rubens ’90 while in New York.

Sherry (Lehr) Föhr is still teaching English at the University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany, in the same building where she once took classes through the Wesleyan exchange program during junior year. Her department continues to send one or two students to Wesleyan each year. She walks to work through the scenic old city, with an office view of the famous castle, and still marvels at how lucky she has been to have such a great job in such a great place—especially considering that she never managed to get into an English class at Wes.

Phineas Baxandall took part in a strong Class of ’89 showing at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Nietzsch Factor, which also included a celebration of Vicious Circles, co-founded by classmates Lisa Brush and Laura Flaxman. He shared an Airbnb with Roger Kent, Ted Bardacke ’90, Rob Featherstone, and Ezra Brownstein ’91 (now Ezra Shales).

After 30 years on what he calls the “dark side,” Andy Nakahata recently accepted an appointment from California Governor Gavin Newsom as chief executive officer and executive director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank). The IBank is the state’s only general-purpose financing authority, with a broad mandate to support infrastructure and economic development through bonds, loans, credit enhancement, and the leveraging of state and federal funds. Andy notes that the role has been a significant change but one he is thoroughly enjoying, offering the chance to learn new areas and make a meaningful impact. He credits his Wesleyan liberal arts background as strong preparation for this career shift and adds that he is having a great time in the role as he starts off 2026.