CLASS OF 2003 | 2025 | SPRING ISSUE
I am sorry to share the news that Amber Cook passed away on October 25, 2024. She was a talented marketing professional in the gaming industry and a devoted mother to her six-year-old son, James. (A link to her obituary can be found at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu.)
Matt Kushner decided to take a leap into tech this December as a 3D design technologist in Visual Innovation Services at Amazon, after a four-year stint in immersive entertainment at Illuminarium Experiences. Lauren Kushner (Brown ’04) enters her ninth year as a staff 3D animator at the American Museum of Natural History. Kids, Mimi and Tessa, are thriving in fourth and second grade respectively.
National Geographic has released a feature film on Alison Criscitiello, For Winter: “In the frozen heights of Mount Logan, Canada’s tallest peak, a team of scientists launches a daring expedition to unearth thousands of years of climate data in one record-breaking ice core. The sample is an invaluable piece of the global climate puzzle. And the seven experts, with their scientific genius, physical strength, and high-alpine survival skills, are some of the only people in the world who can complete this monthlong mission.” For Winter is a one-hour documentary featuring the leader of this brutal quest—ice core scientist and National Geographic explorer Alison Criscitiello. The film aims to inspire support for climate research and diversity in science and exploration ( http://natgeo.org/forwinterfilm).
Ben Rhatigan just passed the 20-year mark living in Spain, recently moving from Barcelona to the Canary Islands. He also bit the bullet and launched Arrival Projects, a brand strategy agency focused on travel, destinations, and hospitality companies.
Earlier this fall, Oz Hazel started his term as chair of the Wesleyan Fund. He is spending more time on campus brainstorming how to drive alumni engagement and ensure current and future students have the opportunity to enjoy Wes as much as we did. Shoot him a note with your ideas or just say “hi.”
Hurricane Helene dealt some difficulties to Caroline Knox and her family and neighbors in Asheville, North Carolina, displacing them for more than a month. The community rallied together, and they were grateful for all the support from around the country. Running water is a resource they no longer take for granted! They enjoyed a reunion with Professor Gayle Pemberton on a New England swing this July. Asheville is welcoming visitors again, so please let her know if you are in the neighborhood!
Julie Stankiewicz has started her own nonprofit advocacy organization entitled CARE for People with Chronic and Invisible Illnesses. CARE has an innovative and comprehensive approach, providing patients educational health resources, addressing prejudice and discrimination against people with chronic illness, and addressing larger environmental and cultural issues that contribute to chronic illness. Julie’s former thesis advisor from Wesleyan, Francine Rosselli, serves as secretary on CARE’s board of directors. As the organization grows, Julie would love help from Wesleyan alumni, particularly those with an interest in holistic and/or functional medicine, social advocacy for underserved groups, and nonprofit development. If you are interested in being involved, contact Julie at info@careaboutinvisibleillness.org.
Kate Standish is living binationally in Nicaragua with her 10-year-old son and husband, Tony, and doing clinical and research work out of Boston at Boston Medical Center, having completed fellowship training in breastfeeding medicine.
Stu Sherman is starting 2025 by launching a new business in Brooklyn, All Things Grow. The business offers classes on home growing cannabis and mushrooms as well as gardening supplies.
Tejas Desai is planning to release his latest book, Bad Americans (The Human Tragedy, Volume 2), this year in an ambitious publishing campaign involving 18 distinct publications. The full schedule and more information about the Great American Pandemic Novel are on his website: http://tejas-desai.com. He ran into Michelle Burgos and her husband, Dave Weintraub, on Election Day in Astoria, Queens—they had just voted early and Tejas was running his monthly literary salon, The New Wei. He also got together with Bayard Templeton, Ted Quinn, and Laurie Shaner Quinn in Philadelphia.
Tricia Homer coaches executives and leads team-building retreats. She helps individuals and groups navigate conflict and articulate their vision and values. Her clients have included Comcast Global, Mozilla, Harvard Business School, the DNC, National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Clean Water Action/Fund. She does speaker coaching for conferences and conventions like the Clean Energy Buyers Association Summit and the New York State Employees Public Federation Convention. She’s also a keynote speaker and emcee. Credits include the closing keynote for the 2023 Big Ten Development Conference. After more than 10 years at the University of Maryland and two years as a senior program officer at the U.S. Institute of Peace, she’s left the DMV and returned home to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she’s always happy to host! “Let’s do some good work together. Or COME VISIT!”
John Graham has expanded his company’s cultural tour offerings with trips to Sicily and Ethiopia. He is also offering high-end boat charters in the Galapagos and Turkiye, with accompanying specialist guides. See www.johngrahamtours.com for all tours.
AMY TANNENBAUM GOTTLIEB | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu