CLASS OF 1984 | 2014 | ISSUE 2
Roger Pincus is your host this issue. Thanks to everyone who’s submitted news to us—here it is:
Michael Misi Polgar is an associate professor of sociology at Penn State University in Hazelton, Pa. His work includes sociological research on gendered variations in service learning. He and his wife, Michele, are happily busy with three daughters, but he finds time to volunteer in his community as a soccer coach.
Andy Peretz has avoided the winter blues as he practices commercial litigation and entertainment law in South Florida, where he represents entertainment companies producing music festivals and cruises. He also plays drums in area bands. The music-loving gene has been transmitted to both Andy’s teenage son and daughter, who enjoy attending rock shows with their dad.
Laura Simon remains in Connecticut working as the wildlife ecologist for the Humane Society of the United States. She proudly reports that her 10-year-old son, Jack, participated in a successful lobbying effort that culminated in a new state law giving students a choice to opt out of dissection.
Paul Gross has spent the last five years applying everything he learned in business to medical research by becoming board chair and the most active volunteer for the Hydrocephalus Association, the largest patient advocacy organization, for his son’s common but poorly treated brain condition. Paul had founded a clinical research network in neurosurgery a few years earlier and merged the two organizations so they wouldn’t be competing with one another for funding. He serves on the advisory council for one of the National Institutes of Health and travels often between Seattle and D.C. In his free time, Paul races mountain bikes in his home state of Washington.
Speaking of biking, Aaron Gershenberg has done several fundraising rides per year since graduation; last year, his team (Silicon Valley Bank) raised almost $1 million for Best Buddies, an organization that benefits the intellectually and developmentally challenged. Aaron also has joined the board of First Move, an organization that promotes the inclusion of chess in the second and third grade classroom. He works closely with Magnus Carlsen, current world chess champion.
Steven Herzog has been living in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his girlfriend/partner, Carrie Jabinsky, for about five years; they have a 3-year-old daughter, Sasha. Steven’s two older daughters are both doing well—Rachel is a junior majoring in classics at Barnard and Charlotte is a freshman at Kenyon planning to double major in theater and math. Steven continues working as a litigation counsel for Paul Weiss in New York, handling commercial cases and pro bono work on death penalty cases. He invites any classmate in or visiting New York to look him up.
Jeff Mehlman reports that he and wife Lynne Bono Mehlman are still in North Andover, Mass., where they have lived for more than 25 years. Jeff continues to work as a management and information technology consultant in the capital markets and Lynne is an accomplished painter in the classical tradition: lynnebmehlman.com. Their son, Jake, and daughter, Julia, are sophomores at the University of Denver and Bowdoin College respectively. Jake took a year off between high school and college, during which he walked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He now enjoys his access to the Rockies and competing in rugby. Julia is thriving academically and as president of her social house. She also has had success competing as a sprinter.
Mark Randles continues to be a ball of fire when it comes to socializing with other Wesleyan alums. In March he attended a birthday party for Melany Kahn ’86 in New Hampshire. He reports that Michael Bailit and Jim Glickman were among those present. Days earlier, Mark spent time with David Booker, Mike Murphy, and Shakir Farsakh. David is a lawyer with Credit Agricole, Mike is with Morgan Stanley, and Shakir is with the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. By the time you are reading this, Shakir may be reporting to Stefan Selig, whom the President has nominated as Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.
Chuck Schneider is enjoying touring in support of his novel, A Portrait in Time, which was released in print in January 2014. And Michael Lewyn’s book, A Libertarian Smart Growth Agenda: How to Limit Sprawl Without Curbing Property Rights, was published by Lambert Academic Publishing. Mike continues to teach at Touro Law School and blog on urban affairs.
Finally, class co-secretary Michael Steven Schultz is happy to announce that his son Quinlan will be a freshman at Hampshire College this fall. In addition, Michael Steven was delighted to catch Beth Kaufman ’86 and Mark Miller ’88 with their band, Spuyten Duyvil, at Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville, Pa. Beth is a powerhouse singer and anyone in New England or the NY/NJ/PA area should keep an eye out for their tour dates at sputyenduyvilmusic.com.
Michael Steven Schultz
mschultz84@wesleyan.edu
Roger PincuS | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu