Author: Caroline Liu '18

Hi, Class of 2004! As usual, you’re keeping busy and have some wonderful milestones to celebrate!

Liana Heitin is living in D.C. and working as a reporter for Education Week newspaper. In September, she married her best friend and running buddy, Jonathan Loewus-Deitch, in an outdoor wedding in the mountains of West Virginia. The two honeymooned in Thailand this winter.

Nick Blondin tells us: “I’ve been quite busy in my practice as a neuro-oncologist in Fairfield, Conn., at Associated Neurologists of Southern Connecticut (ANSC). I’ve recently opened two clinical trials for patients with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. I have also started a clinical research project with medical marijuana for patients with brain cancer. I’m on twitter @NeuroOncNews if you want to follow!”

Plus, he was up at Wes on Jan. 31 for the swim team meet against Coast Guard Academy, visiting with Tom Cleveland ’05. “I think Coach Solomon is doing an awesome job!” We agree!

Brian Hennessey graduated from his MBA program and got a spot in a rotational program with a telecom company that works in Latin America and Africa. “I spent some of the fall in Miami at our Latam Headquarters and I’m spending the first half of 2015 in Paraguay working on a few fun projects. I haven’t seen many other Wesers but am planning to be in NYC for Will Kendall’s wedding, so I hope to reconnect with a few folks then.”

Laurel Kemper tells us she had a baby, Leonhard Kemper Kennedy, on July 13, 2014. Plus, she’s in Vienna, Austria, through 2018 with her family and would love to have Wesleyan visitors.

Kristin Small got married Aug. 9, 2014, to Jonathan Holz and lives happily in Rochester, N.Y. She’s also enjoying her job as a civil rights lawyer at Empire Justice Center.

Hannah Tennant-Moore is newly, happily married to Wyatt Mason. Her first novel will be published by Hogarth/Random House next year.

Nick Vincent got married last May at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware, where he met his wife, Eliza, in grad school. Wes alums at the wedding included soccer teammates Chris Feige, Rick Ferri, Nick Katzenbach, and Rich Valentino ’03. On the professional front, Nick was promoted to a senior management position in the director’s office at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Stephanie Mandell got married in October in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Josh Kaye, Megan Ridley Kaye ’05, Nora Hanagan, Jon Lashley, Becca Solow, and Camille Zahniser attended. She’s lived in LA for three years now, and is a managing consultant at IBM, focusing on energy and utilities.

Tatiana McDougall, (officially Dr. Tatiana McDougall) writes: “I received my PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in Dec, 2014. My dissertation research examined the influence of stress and attachment on intimacy, using dyadic data-analyses to model complex interdependent processes. I am continuing to work with individuals and couples as I complete my post-doctoral fellowship at the Long Beach VA Hospital, where I am also involved in research examining the influence of attachment style on therapeutic processes in veterans with PTSD. I live with my husband, Masai, and our dog, Melody, in Long Beach. It’s been great to be closer to West Coast family and friends; we even get to see Chet Devaskar and Shivani Siroya, when we are not all busy with our crazy lives.”

In more Wes alum marriage news, Bonnie Oliva and Tim Porter said “I do” on campus in January over Martin Luther King Day weekend. Wes was in full effect, with many alums in attendance, such as Bernadette Doykos, Biz Ghormely, Dawn Papacena ’02, Anthony Rosario ’02, Andres Villalon, Ahkai Franklin, Tivon Sidorsky, Josh Goldstein, Brian McKenna, Melissa DeCew, Rebecca Kirchheimer, wedding coordinator Delilah Lora ’05 and Bonnie’s 9 Vine roommates—Judivelly Torres, Monica Gonzalez, Cassandra (James) Dixon and Jenina Nuñez.

And that’s it for now. Until next time!

Jenina NuÑez | meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com

Meeghan Whooley Ward | jenina.nunez@gmail.com

Joseph Gindi moved back to Boston in June, and is happy to be reunited with lots of Wesleyan friends in that city.

Vida Long teaches English and German at the American International School in Salzburg. She welcomes contact from Wes alum teachers (especially English or math) who’d like to join her next year, or recent grads who’d like to work as an RAs.

Jesse Soursourian co-wrote a short film that was accepted by the Sundance Film Festival, and screened this January in Park City, Utah. He will be finishing his final semester of his MFA in film at Columbia University at the end of May.

Sandy Glassman White (who now goes by her Hebrew name, Samara) and her husband, Troy White, are excited to announce the release of their first children’s book, Maya & Friends Visit the Acupuncturist (acupuncturekidsbook.com), written by Samara and illustrated by Troy. Samara graduated from the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine. She’s a licensed acupuncturist and craniosacral therapist, specializing in infant craniosacral work. Samara and Troy were married last May.

Josh Daniels was reelected to the Berkeley School Board and was co-chair of the successful Yes on Measure D campaign, which was the first approved soda tax in the US.

Ben Rhatigan continues a very pleasant life in Barcelona, working as a management consultant for a firm specializing in organizations in emerging economies, and is currently on a project in Nigeria and Kenya. If any ’03ers are around that area, he’d love to be in touch.

Claire Lutgendorf McPhee and husband Christopher continue to love life in beautiful Bellingham, Wash., where she is a veterinarian. In May, they welcomed son Henry Alpin McPhee, into the world. They have since been seeking adventures, one scenic diaper change at a time.

Jason Pinter married Dana Lauren Klinek on Nov. 29th at Shadowbrook, an event space in Shrewsbury, N.J.

Alison Criscitiello is headed to the Pamir Mountains to complete a first, all-women’s winter ski traverse of the Tajikistan border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China (borderski.com). She and her teammates will explore the impact of fences on migratory wildlife, and hope to inspire people to think about borders in different ways.

Jeremy Cluchey is director of creative design at Bates College. He and wife Sally welcomed their second child, a boy named Fred, in late 2014.

Kirsten Yamaguchi is working in film previsualization. As a CG shot creator, Kirsten helps plan the action, cameras, and framing for film sequences in 3D visualization software.

Katrina Nordine and husband Dave Heltibrand, welcomed their second child, Vallely Nordine, on March 4, 2014. Their son, Nils Heltibrand, is petitioning hard for additional siblings, with little success to date. Katie has also launched Nordine Events, an event planning outfit.

Amy and Tom Hodgman are living in Evanston, Ill. They just enjoyed a vacation to North Captiva Island with their, son Sam, 3-1/2, and daughter, Aquinnah (Quinn), born April 2014. Tom works at The Nature Conservancy, doing large scale land conservation in North America.

Mayuran Tiruchelvam received a creative producing fellowship from the Sundance Institute, where he met four inspiring Sundance and Wes alums Matthew Greenfield ’90, Jonas Carpignano  ’06, Dan Janvey ’06, and Michael Gottwald ’06. His production of Across the Sea, a Turkish-American romantic drama, received the Audience Award at the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival. He wrote a crime thriller, The Girl is in Trouble, to be released April 2015 across North America by eOne Films.

AMY TANNENBAUM | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

Oh, how I miss spring at Wesleyan, when the crisp air warmed up just enough to welcome all students to Foss Hill for the afternoon. But wherever we are in the world, we will always have these wonderful memories to remind us of our youth. Which brings me to my little bundle of great news—on Jan. 4, my wife Melanie gave birth to our baby daughter, Scarlett Lucy Lacob. Mom and baby are doing great!

Congratulations also to Dina Levi. Her wife gave birth to their daughter, Ezra Robbins Levi, in January. The couple resides in Chicago and Dina is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at an independent school.

Lots of moving for our classmates… After three years living abroad, Josh Dankoff moved to Boston with his wife, 3-year-old daughter, and 3-month-old son. He welcomes connections with Wesleyan folk living in the city. Jesse Lava moved back to his hometown of Chicago after three years in Los Angeles. He is now director of legislative affairs at the Chicago Department of Public Health, where he works to pass laws to make residents healthier. Sara Miller, her husband, and 11-month-old son have moved to Bucks County, Pa. And Dani Rotstein moved to Palma, Mallorca, in Spain—where he used to live when he spent his junior year abroad and first fell in love with the country. He moved there to take a full-time line producer position for Palma Pictures, a production services company.

Out on the East Coast, Jody Avirgan left WNYC radio (the NPR station in New York City) after seven years and is now at ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight where he will be hosting and developing podcasts—talking sports, politics, culture, and more. He also hosts a live comedy/storytelling show called Ask Roulette and welcomes anyone to attend his regular gigs in NYC and beyond. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert started a new job as an assistant professor in the division of general pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. Katherine Gajewski lives in Philadelphia, where she serves as the city’s director of sustainability. She married Benjamin Warrington last summer in a Quaker wedding ceremony. Sallome Hralima says that “the last six months have been a blast!” She was on the 2014 CUSP Conference stage sharing about the design of the Dream Director, the Creative Mornings’ stage, talking about the Audacity of Purpose, and was featured on Travel Noire, sharing about her first time abroad and the impact it had on her. This summer, she will be hitched to Ibrahim Greenidge, an architect, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

On March 31, Una LaMarche’s comic essay collection, Unabrow, was published by Plume Books. From Penguin Books website: “As a girl, Una LaMarche was as smart as she was awkward. She was blessed with a precocious intellect, a love of all things pop culture, and eyebrows bushier than Frida Kahlo’s. Adversity made her stronger…and funnier. In Unabrow, Una shares the cringe-inducing lessons she’s learned from a life as a late bloomer, including the seven deadly sins of DIY bangs, how not to make your own jorts, and how to handle pregnancy, plucking, and the rites of passage during which your own body is your worst frenemy.”

Jennifer Lauder: “The last year has been full of incredible transitions, both planned and unexpected, for me and my family. I left my job as a teacher after almost a decade in progressive classrooms and started working as a consultant for schools and educational programs, mentoring teachers, designing and developing curriculum, and supporting students and families. At the same time, my husband, Chad Dean, and I launched a digital media company, WRK Group Media; we produce a review and lifestyle site, weekendreviewkit.com, and are shopping a book about the landscape of legal cannabis in the US and the changing public perception of cannabis consumption. We’re also engaged in an evolving homeschooling/unschooling practice with our 7-year-old daughter that we document at thelotusschool.blogspot.com; we hope to move the whole show to the Pacific Northwest in the springtime.”

Tiffany Williamson Kelly lives in Philly with her husband, Shawn, and daughter, Eva, 2. Tiffany is associate admission director at The Agnes Irwin School with Wigs Frank (Prof. Anne Greene’s brother). Shawn is also in education: head of school at St. Peter’s School in Center City. “If you’re an alum of either school, please stay in touch.”

And lastly, Tarsah Dale continues to reside in Austin, Texas, although she’s still not sure about identifying herself as a Texan despite six years of residency. However, she did become the co-owner and managing director of Inspire Behavior Therapy, a small business serving children and adults with developmental disabilities and challenging behaviors, so she’ll probably have several more years to adapt to her adopted state. And Jamie Wong continues to run Vayable, the travel start-up she founded in 2011, which connects travelers to locals for unique experiences. She’s writing a book, playing soccer, and splitting her time between New York, LA, and San Francisco.

Keep those class notes coming!

JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com

You’re the best. My last plea yielded so many replies that this is the second edition from months ago, with a few updates.

Amanda Sayle Rinzel started working as programming associate at the Sheen Center in Manhattan. Her new role is to “fill the large main stage theater, our beautiful, super-swanky Black Box theater, and our art gallery artists that use their work to highlight the true, the good, and the beautiful. I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this work in some of the most beautiful theaters I’ve had the pleasure to work in since Wes days.” Son Stanley turned 1, and Julius is “full-on 3 years old, which is awesome and spectacularly exhausting”.

Kyoko Miura writes, “I am serving as chief of staff at SNEHA (nehamumbai.org), a nonprofit based in Mumbai, working in four areas of public health (maternal and newborn health, child health and nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, and prevention of violence against women and children) in the most deprived urban slums. On a personal note, I had a chance to catch up with Devyani Srinivasan here in Mumbai and had a Japanese meal together.” Kyoko is always looking for interns and volunteers for research projects, and can be reached at kyoko@snehamumbai.org.

Peter Banks and Sara Shandler have a beautiful 2-1/2-year-old named Hazel. He writes, “We live in Brooklyn, I just (re) started a gig at Atari, and Sara is running the editorial group at Alloy Entertainment (Warner Brothers subsidiary)”.

Wendy Bauman Jeffries and Chris Jeffries welcomed baby Elena Jane Jeffries on Sept. 1, 2014.

Rachel Feinstein Stevens is donating architectural and energy modeling work for a Net Zero duplex for Habitat for Humanity in Easthampton, Mass. She says, “If volunteers can hit Net Zero, anyone can!”

In August, Roger Smith moved to Japan to work for the Town of Matsushima. He is the first foreigner to work in the town hall and his job is to support the recovery from the 2011 tsunami by encouraging tourism to the region. Matsushima is designated as one of the three most scenic spots in Japan and was unaffected by the nuclear disaster, so please visit! In his spare time he is working on a documentary about towns rebuilding as resilient, renewable energy-friendly communities.

Andrew “Roo” Yawitz: “My wife and I welcomed our third child on Aug. 8, a boy named Calvin. I am living in the Central West End of St. Louis, running the music club I opened in 2008, The Gramophone, and also working for a music fan loyalty platform called Tunespeak. Also, if anyone out in Wes world wants to get a true narrative of what went down and of the continued struggles in Ferguson, follow my good friend @TefPoe. (Here’s a hint: It’s not what was on the news.)”

After working for investment banks in Japan, and in various countries in Africa in the humanitarian assistance sector with NGOs and others, Kaori Ura is now moving to Johannesburg to work for World Food Programme (WFP). She married an Eritrean whom she met in Juba, South Sudan, and they’ve lived in Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Cameroon, Senegal, and Italy in the past six years. They have two daughters, 6 and 3.

Winsor Schmidt writes, “My wife, Sandra, and I welcomed our son, Chase, on Aug. 31. We are looking forward to a beautiful fall in Cleveland walking him around the Metroparks!”

Heather Harelik Tseng was selected from 500-plus associates as The Little Clinic’s winner for excellence in leadership behaviors in 2013. She was honored in a ceremony at Kroger’s (the parent company) headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ari Brochin married Sarah Meyer in June. “Sarah’s from Melbourne, Australia, and completed a PhD in international public health from Johns Hopkins earlier this year. We’ve been living in Mae Sot, Thailand, for the last two years, where I’ve been working for the Karen Human Rights Group, a local organization which does advocacy and reporting about Southeast Myanmar. We’ll be moving to Kampala, Uganda, in January, where Sarah will be the director of research for the Center for Excellence in the Study of the African Child at Makarere University. Wesfolks at our wedding included Anthony Clark and Megan Joiner, Tony and Kate McAlpine Guerra, Erika Scott, Cara Herbitter ’03, Xiomara Lorenzo ’06, Joseph Gindi ’03, Joseph Berman ’04, Dana Raviv ’06, and Nancy Kreimer ’74.”

Anthony Clark writes that Kannan Vasudevan married Katie Zaffrann in Sept. 2014. Delicious Indian food was consumed and wild dancing ensued. Rev. Megan Lloyd Joiner officiated the ceremony. A stellar Wes crew was in attendance including Guillermo Barnetche, Tyler Cabot, Professor Ron Ebrecht, Serena Jones ’00, Eleanor Michael and Joey Meyer ’00, Erika Scott, Joel Streeter, and Dave Westman.

Rebecca Hume has been enjoying the freewheeling lifestyle of a freelance graphic designer since leaving her agency job last December. In a slightly less terrifying adventure, she ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May with Beth Slepian, now the school programs manager at the Anne Frank Center USA.

Sarah Gollust just kicked off her fifth year on the faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. In April, she and her husband Ezra Golberstein welcomed second son Mattan Benjamin who joined big brother Ilan James. She is finally getting accustomed to the frigid upper Midwest, but still refuses to call soda “pop.”

Will Engel kindly heeded my call to send in anything, even if it is from 2006: “Speaking of 2006, I actually released an album called This Could Be Heaven that year. I am currently writing for Examiner and AXS and live in Los Angeles.”

At this writing (early February) I am snowed in here in Boston. Hopefully I will be dug out by the time you read this. Happy spring, everybody!

MARA VOUKYDIS | maravee@gmail.com

Many people in our class continue to welcome new babies into their families. Chinelo Dike-Minor and her husband, Randall Minor, welcomed a new baby boy, Obi Minor, in Nov. 2014. Everyone is thrilled, including his big brother!

Demian Szyld and Pia Chatterjee welcomed their daughter Lila on Dec. 24th, 2014. “We are enjoying her smiles and our time together in Brooklyn, N.Y.”

Caroline Cho Reed writes, “We welcomed our third child, a son, in Sept, 2014. His two older sisters are thrilled to have a real live “baby doll” in the house! I’m happily managing and maintaining a busy household schedule but finding some time to do some pro bono communications work for an exercise franchise.”

Melanie Kessler and her husband live in Bristol, Vt., with their two wonderful sons, Ezra (2) and Judah (6 months). She writes, “We manage a small school/community farm and I provide Jewish spiritual education and community programming for a synagogue in Burlington along with organizing community harvest festivals. My husband creates functional metal sculpture and takes care of horses’ feet out of the blacksmithing shop in our backyard. What wonderful joy we have bringing ritual, craft, and celebrations to our home and extended community. Visitors welcome!”

Also, in Vermont, Sadie Danforth Brightman, along with the help of husband Nick Brightman has had an exciting year fulfilling a dream to start a music school. Middlebury Community Music Center is an up and running nonprofit with 20 faculty members and more than 100 students. The vision has long been to create a place for collaboration and diverse music classes for all ages. One of the biggest thrills is having both daughters, now 6 and 4, attending as music students!

Gian-Murray Gianino writes that he and his wife, Maggie Thom, are absolutely enjoying the joys and follies of raising their son, Sebastian Thom Gianino, in Brooklyn. Maggie continues to dance, most recently at BAM with Jodi Melnick, as well as teach at Plymouth Church School in Brooklyn Heights. GM continues to teach and perform all over the map with his theater company, SITI Company, most recently at the Getty Villa in LA.

Ali Haider is an interventional cardiologist in western Massachusetts in private practice with Hampden County cardiovascular associates. He is affiliated with Baystate Medical Center and is an assistant professor of medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He is a new member of the heart valve team and performs coronary, structural, and vascular interventions.

Shawn Green is working on his third degree, this time in engineering, at Berkshire Community College.

Josh Lerner published two books last year—Making Democracy Fun: How Game Design Can Empower Citizens and Transform Politics; and Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy? He lives in Brooklyn, where he directs a nonprofit, the Participatory Budgeting Project, and plays Duplo with his son Miro.

Paul Josephs is still working as a musician and educator with Metrosonics Concepts in Brooklyn, NY. He has a new website: pauljosephs.com, as well as metrosonicsconcepts.com.

Ian Moulton writes, “On July 5, 2014, I married Jillian Johnson in my parents’ backyard in Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Lots of friends and family were in attendance, including my brother Sam Moulton ’98. After the ceremony Jillian and I got into an amphibious car and drove into the lake while our guests followed in a pair of pontoon boats. It was a lot of fun. Jillian is from Klamath Falls, Ore. She is director of HR at the online video company JW Player. I work at TouchTunes as a product manager of digital jukeboxes. We live in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.”

I (Hilda) continue to live in Brunswick, Maine, where I work as a school psychologist in the elementary school down the road. My husband, Peter Wiley, is working at Bowdoin College in data warehousing and analytics. We just had our third child in December, Naomi Joy, and she has been warmly welcomed by big sister Simone (7) and brother Ian (5). I will be stepping down from doing class notes, so if anyone wants to take over for me, please send me an e-mail at hildawiley@yahoo.com. Avery is great to work with!

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Kevin writes: Limited submissions this time, so please take a few minutes and send in your updates for the next Wes Mag so we can hear what you’re up to! For example, I recently heard from Mark Zubko, but he quickly went to ground again after the Seahawks lost in the Super Bowl. He may have been hiding from Pete Czerepak’s celebrations of the New England victory.

From Greg Brodsky: “Scott Cavanaugh and Ashley Grant ’00 just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in Easthampton, Mass., in December. Word on the street: baby Ezra was locally sourced, and 100% free range.” Greg is still living in Somerville, and is with a tech start-up, OrderWithMe, which helps groups of independent stores to buy together. He works out of Workbar in Cambridge, and occasionally sees Matt Goldstein there. Suzanne Bouffard also just joined.

Speaking of free range—Eve Fox has been busy writing about the hopeful world of sustainable agriculture with a focus on all the cool things happening where she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. Eve also writes about plain old delicious food on her blog: http://www.thegardenofeating.org. She and her family also had a chance to meet up with Makaela Kingsley ’98 and Jonah Sachs ’97 at the tail end of 2014 for a reunion.

Jon Stewart made news with his Daily Show retirement this year. Our own Catie Lazarus was there to get his first reaction on her show, “Employee of the Month.” The New Yorker wrote a nice piece on her repartee with Stewart that is worth a read (and, of course, you should watch Catie’s show!).

Nina Kontos just had a son, Nicholas Kontos Busquet, born in Dec. 2014. Forever a New Yorker (and married to one), Nina still lives in the city and considers herself lucky to see lots of fabulous Wes friends here on a regular basis. She has been working at Google in communications for five years…work takes her to the Bay Area fairly often and so she gets to see Allegra Jones and Caitlin Lang. Fun fact: freshman year Maya Mitchell predicted Nina would have a career in the field of public relations/communications and she was right.

In January, Ellen Sluder started a new position: head of marketing for MedForce Technologies, a software company focused on productivity applications in health care. “It’s only been two months, but I’m really excited about the change, even if I look solely at the elimination of two hours of my previous daily commute. It’s also just been really fun as I’m digging in to rebuild the brand from the ground up and pioneer a proactive marketing program where there previously had been very little.” Ellen’s husband, Stephen, flies for the Conair Corporation (“think hair dryers, not convicts”). “We’ve got a good rhythm down with our two daughters (4 and 1), not that it makes it any easier on me mentally when he gets to leave behind this below-zero NYC weather to spend a long ‘work’ weekend in the Turks and Caicos. I hope he brings back some warmer temperatures for us!”

The Bay Area continues to be a beacon for our classmates. In Oakland, Tara Cohen and Jessica Flintoft welcomed their child, Oscar Rose Cohen-Flintoft, into the world on Dec. 20th, 2014. They could not be more in love with their sweet little one, sleepless nights and all. Danielle Lazier is living in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. “In my 13th year of selling SF real estate and blogging for SFhotlist.com. Recently connected with some old Wes friends in NYC.”

Chris Chambers completed post-production on Aram, Aram—his first feature as writer-director. Jim Gilbane contributed his talents as editor. “Pic is an indie drama set within the Armenian community of Los Angeles. Coming to a film fest near you…or, worst-case scenario, YouTube.”

Laura Zaks writes, “I just completed a two-year contract working for the Inter‑American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, based in Costa Rica, as an international specialist in food and nutritional security for Latin American and the Caribbean. Primarily, I provided technical assistance and advised on policies to increase the availability and quality of food produced through small and medium-scale agriculture in the region. My family also welcomed a baby girl, Sabine Antonia, born in Dec. 2014, who joins her two older brothers, Tiago and Luka.”

Finally, we close with some solemn news. Wesleyan recently learned of the death of our classmate, Marc James Augustine, on Oct. 26, 2014. The full obituary notice is available online.

C. DARRYL UY | darryl.uy@gmail.com

KEVIN KUMLER | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Embarrassed by my paltry previous edition of class notes, I turned to the handy mass-email strategy of soliciting information—and boy, did you all respond! We have an abundance of news to share, so please make sure to go online to view those notes that didn’t fit in the printed magazine.

Sadly, I begin this edition with tragic news. Our classmate Michelle L. Salisbury passed away on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014. Michelle worked at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as a senior project manager. She is survived by her husband, Jon D. Orris; mother, Judy Salisbury; grandfather, Edward M. Salisbury; brother, Brian E. (Cristen) Salisbury; and nieces, Elliote and Reilly.

In 2014 Sara Brenneis, published her book Genre Fusion: A New Approach to History, Fiction, and Memory in Contemporary Spain, welcomed her son Charlie in October, and achieved tenure in the Spanish department at Amherst College.

Nadia Khan also welcomed a son in October 2014: Iago Khan Martell. She and her husband, Hector, left the Bay Area for Austin, Texas. Hector works at Mell Lawrence Architects and Nadia is “‘working from home’ as I scheme up where to put my modern, sustainable architecture stamp moving forward.”

Anthony Veneziale and his partner welcomed their second child, Ociela, in 2014. Anthony partnered with Thomas Kail ’99, Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, and Bill Sherman ’02) on a live improv rap show, Freestyle Love Supreme, that aired on Pivot. He also started a new show/company, Speechless, which gives improvised PowerPoint presentations and helps companies make better presentations on stage and on camera.

President Obama recognized Dave Lubell, executive director of Welcoming America, for their immigration integration efforts. In a Dec. 2014 event in Nashville, President Obama said, “David’s initiative is expanding across the country… This is what makes America exceptional. That we welcome strivers. We welcome dreamers from all around the world.”

Nadine Forrester Mills and husband Gregory welcomed daughter Angelique. Nadine was also inducted into the Middletown, Conn., Hall of Fame for her accomplishments in track and field.

In Paris, Becky Cohen is enjoying the semester abroad she never experienced. She, husband Jake and two daughters moved there from Boston last summer. Becky teaches at the Lycée International: “Jake is taking care of the homestead and finding more time for biking and art; the girls are immersed in French schools! It is a fantastic adventure, and we are trying to see as much as we can before heading home, either this summer or next!”

Dahlia Schweitzer is pursuing a PhD in cinema and media studies at UCLA. She published Cindy Sherman’s Office Killer: Another Kind of Monster, a book examining artist Cindy Sherman’s only film.

Also in LA, Guillermo Brown is working on his next music releases with his bands Pegasus Warming and Thiefs, with whom he’s touring.

Jessica Cortes hosted a Wesleyan Lawyers Association (WLA) cocktail event in New York at her firm, Davis & Gilbert, LLP. The event attracted approximately 40 alumni; see the group’s LinkedIn page for more information.

Lia Salza Goldstein encourages those in D.C. to visit the neighborhood art space for children that she calls Little Loft in Capitol Hill. A second location is about to open in Takoma Park, where Lia lives with her husband and three children.

Michael Sternhell and his wife expanded their family in Dec. 2014 with baby girl Iris Sternhell.

Georgia Silveria Seamans also welcomed a daughter, Colette, in March 2014. She encourages all in NYC to check out the projects she’s planning for Washington Square Park Ecology.

For the past 12 years, Amanda Green has taught film studies and English at Berkeley High School. When she’s not teaching or spending time with her husband and two children, Amanda finds time to teach jujitsu and aikido in nearby Oakland.

The faux bois furniture that Mike Christie-Fogg makes was recently featured in Architectural Digest and Traditional Home magazine. His furniture is distributed through David Sutherland.

Abe Forman-Greenwald is filling our FaceBook feeds with content as a video producer at BuzzFeed Video. His short videos have racked up more than 150 million views in total. Recently he’s been focusing on documentary shorts about subjects of identity and social justice. He tweets about his projects at @filmingdocs.

As founding VP of Operations, Tali Schmulovich is working to build Global Health Corps, a nonprofit developing a pipeline of leaders focused on global health. While she is based in New York, Tali has worked in Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.

Laura Polania, a psychiatrist focusing on women’s mental health, has expanded her private practice to Brooklyn, where she lives. She keeps up with Christine Rizkalla, an emergency pediatric doctor, Rebecca Preiser, who’s finishing up her doctorate in clinical psychology, and Sarah Kless Seigel, who is practicing pediatrics.

Thanks to Instagram, I learned Penelope Linge and her family were vacationing on Maui at the same time I was. I loved having an unplanned Hawaiian get-together with my former Wes swimming teammate who’s now the CFO at HelloGiggles, an online community covering pop culture, love, friendship, style, and news.

Sourav Guha is back at Wes: a visiting instructor of government, teaching contemporary Indian politics. This follows earlier stints back on campus as assistant dean of admissions, institutional research associate, and assistant provost.

In Cairo, Jaime Nelson El-Helw opened FLOW Wellness Center, which offers activities for mothers to develop positive bonds with their children. She, her husband, Sherif El-Helw, and their three children return to New England every summer to visit Jaime’s family, including her grandfather, Ted Nelson ’41, who lives in Rhode Island.

Arshad Chowdhury and his wife, Anika, welcomed a baby boy to their family in Brooklyn. Arshad is CEO of an exercise app company, Power 20, and co-founder of Crowd Interactive, a Web development company.

As Director of Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Makaela Kingsley inspires current Wes students to create projects and organizations that change the world for the better. She also gets to connect with classmates focused on social impact, including Amir Hasson, CEO of Oxigen USA and a serial social entrepreneur, and Rebecca Knight, who writes about business and will be presenting a business plan and pitch workshop for social entrepreneurs at Wesleyan during the spring semester. Of course, Makaela also spends time with husband Matt Kingsley, associate head coach of men’s basketball at Yale, and their children, Amelia and Eli.

Nathan Eddy, his wife Clare, and their two children, Mahalia and Elise, landed in Marylebone, London, in Aug, 2014. Nathan is pursuing a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Clare is serving as a minister in the Church of England.

Jessica Browning and her husband, Jerad, are busy with two daughters who arrived within the last year-and-a-half! Although sleep deprived, Jessica is hanging in there and is a college counselor at a K–12 school in Asheville, N.C.

David Schleifer is working with Chloe Rinehart ’14 at Public Agenda, where they conduct research on domestic policy issues including healthcare, education, and democratic participation.

In Brighton, England, Erica Nelson is an independent consultant on global public health projects, having completed a post-doc research fellowship in anthropology with the University of Amsterdam. She and husband Dylan Howitt have been in England since 2008. Their daughter Sylvie, 4, just started school in Sept, 2014.

Aimee Miles co-founded FOGG Theatre, a musical theatre company in San Francisco that commissions, develops, and produces musicals with a Bay Area focus. The company’s first musical, The Cable Car Nymphomaniac, enjoyed rave reviews and sold-out shows every night. Aimee also leads the education wing of the company, which offers performing arts programming and summer camps for kids. Aimee adds, “Thank you, Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown, for all you taught me!”

Scott McCracken received a fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. He will be teaching a course at UPenn in March.

In Cambridge, Mass., Nella Young runs a fellowship program that places architects with community development organizations through Enterprise Community Partners. She regularly bumps into Kirsten Von Trapp in Davis Square, where Nella lives with her husband and son.

David Greengrass and wife have a son, Ben, born June 2014. They live in D.C.; David works as a counsel on the House Judiciary Committee.

Joshua Steadman’s company, Videoo, is the technology behind a new campaign aiming to connect people through acts of love. The #Share1Love campaign will donate $1 to “charity: water” for every “random act of kindness or love” video uploaded.

Angela Pellegrino-Grant welcomed twins Lena and Silas Pellegrino-Grant in June 2014.

MARCUS CHUNG | marcuschung98@gmail.com

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com

2015 has brought forth new beginnings for many of our classmates. As I begin my third year as your Class Secretary, Alumni of Color Council Member and Wesleyan Fund Class Agent I fondly reflected upon my relationship with Wesleyan through the years. Whether it was the Career Resource Center, the Dean’s Office, my professors, or my friends—I have found Wesleyan to return to me what I have placed into it. I enjoy hearing from everyone and learning about life after Wesleyan. I believe this platform is an outlet to re-establish connection for many of us. Please be encouraged to make a new or recreate an existing WesConnect.

Neily Buff wrote that in January, as Florida legalized gay marriage, she and her 11-year partner, Kelly Kingston, were married in their home state. Exactly one month earlier, they had their first child together—a girl.

Andrew Frishman (@andrewfrishman) shared: “Leigh Needleman ’96 and I just bought a place in Cambridge, located about halfway between Harvard and MIT. We’re excited to be living just a block from our 5-year-old daughter’s school and a 10-minute walk from her younger brother’s daycare. Leigh’s a neuroscientist at Harvard and I am on the leadership team at Big Picture Learning (bigpicture.org). We get together regularly with Laura Warren ’98, her husband and children (who are similar ages to ours). Andrew is excited to be collaborating with Daniela Lewy ’99, who will soon be entering the final year of the Harvard EdLD program, which he finished in May of 2014. Andrew also connects regularly with Arthur Baraf ’98, a principal at the flagship Big Picture Learning school—The Met High School, in Providence, RI.

Carly Burton (@carlyburton7) says: “I’ve been in Boston for the past 12 years and just moved to a new house in Jamaica Plain (one block from our old house). I married my wife, Mo, in 2009 and in October 2013 we adopted our daughter, Clea. We got the call we were matched on the evening of Oct. 18, the day before my birthday. Clea was born on Oct. 22, and we got to meet her that day! It has been a joyous adventure. She is an active toddler who loves to dance and walk backwards and see how long she can pull the tail of the cat before getting in trouble. I’ve worked in advocacy since graduating from social work school at BU and my path has crossed with many Wes alums along the way, from Fawn Phelps to Melissa Shannon ’94, to former Rep Steven Walsh ’95, to Senator Dan Wolf ’79. Currently, I work at an LGBTQ advocacy organization and though I don’t see as many Wes alums in my professional world, I am lucky to see Karen Carniol ’98 and Ginna Smith Reeder ’98 and Liz Murray ’96 pretty regularly, which is wonderful.”

Dr. Joshua Arthurs (@Jwarthurs) and wife Malayna Bernstein are both professors at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.V., Josh in modern European history and serving as director of graduate studies, and Malayna in curriculum and instruction. Along with their boys, Eli (10) and Carlo (6), they are enjoying life as Mountaineers, and welcome any Wes contacts in West Virginia or the Pittsburgh area.

Michelle Conceison (@ProfConceison) lives in Boston runs her own music management and marketing company, Market Monkeys (@MarketMonkeys marketmonkeys.com). Here she manages Canadian songwriter Rose Cousins (rosecousins.com) and her record label, Old Farm Pony Records (oldfarmpony.com). Michelle is also a professor in the music department at Northeastern University and she serves on the Board of Folk Alliance International, the organization that represents folk music worldwide.

Sean Brecker (@seanbrecker) moved back to the US after 11 years away (seven years in Singapore and four in England). His wife, Heidi, and three kids (Felix, 5, and girl/boy twins Eiffel and Dashel, 3) moved to Los Angeles in 2014. Sean is the CEO of Headspace, a guided meditation app. Sean would love to hear from any Wes alums in southern California!

Aileen Nagle McDonough (@3amwriter) lives in Rhode Island and serves as the chief executive of 3am Writers, a communications and content strategy firm that focuses on creative social media and online identity for businesses. Aileen writes stories as “Honda Mama” on wehearthonda.com; she also teaches social media classes at Cape Cod Community College. In addition, Aileen devotes time to her own creative writing. In 2014, she was back on campus to attend Wesleyan’s Shasha Conference on The Novel, and two of her essays were published in Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England.

Aileen has been married for 15 years to Kirk. They have two children: a hockey-playing, mohawk-sporting 11-year old son, Shane, and a redheaded 8-year-old daughter, Cate, who loves Irish step dancing and glee club. Aileen keeps up with Wesleyan friends on social media and meets up with ’97 classmate Michelle Driscoll in Boston or Providence whenever busy schedules allow.

Matthew Way (WayFilm.de) completed his debut feature, “The Genital Warriors” and was very pleased to have celebrated the World and German premieres of it in Moscow and Berlin respectively at the Moscow International Film Festival, one of 15 A-list festivals worldwide. Visit genital-warriors.com/trailer for more information.

Derek DiMatteo wrotes, “I’m three years into the PhD program in English literature here at Indiana University, Bloomington, and have just settled on my qualifying exam committee members. Terrifying to think I will have to do my orals this coming September, but also elated to be done with coursework at the end of this spring.”

At the top of March, Abdul Latif was chosen as one of three 2015 winning choreographers with the Joffrey Academy of Dance, the official school of the Joffrey Ballet, to display his most poignant pieces to date at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Learn more at Joffrey.org/WinningWorks.

Cheers to all of the new beginnings thus far. Looking forward to hearing more.

Kimberly King | kimberly.king715@gmail.com

Hello, fellow ’96ers. I hope this finds you well. I know during winter months we all think back to the wonderful memories of our years at Wes!

Nikki Lewis, living in Raleigh, is director of marketing at Epic Games, the makers of Gears of War, Unreal Engine, and the upcoming Fortnite.

Chung Ma has moved south of the Mason Dixon, from NYC to RVA (Richmond) with his family. He landed a sweet gig managing money for Virginia’s pension fund. He says leaving NYC was a tough choice but the proximity to skiing, beach, and myriad outdoor activities has kept his entire family busy. RVA is a wonderful blend of smaller city and progressive mindset. He further added he went out to Las Vegas to be a part of Alex Fong’s and Sylvia’s wedding. Big Wes reunion there—13 in all!—John Kong, Jason Kim, Ingrid Wong, Phil Cho and his fiancée Wendy Wu ’97, Howie Bae, Susan Yee, Diana Ip, Emily Chang, Andrew Fuys, Susan Ha, Barrett Feldman, Chung Ma, and of course Alex Fong.

Arwen Anderson calls San Francisco home and is happy to be a working theater actor, and along with partner Rod, to have welcomed a son, Rowan Anderson Gnapp, into the world. He is absolutely amazing and keeps them on their toes!

Darrah Carr and husband David Byrne welcomed their daughter, Ettamoya Darrah Byrne, on Nov. 24th; she joins big sister Cavan and big brother Eamonn. Darrah’s dance company, Darrah Carr Dance, celebrated its 15th anniversary season at NYC’s Irish Arts Center.

Elana Pavloff moved back to NYC from Toronto in June; she says she missed real bagels and humid summers. She just started a new job at OMD as the NA Lead for the Visa client. Since her clients are in San Francisco she travels to the West Coast a great deal, so much that the flight attendants know her by name.

Nine years ago, Amalia Mayita left photojournalism to join her family’s coffee business in El Salvador, where they’d been growing coffee for five generations. If any NYC Wes alums want to try this delicious coffee, they can find it at Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, which offers Talnamica and Natamaya. This year’s harvest is available this spring and summer. Amalia admits to being obsessed with Instagram, so check her out @AmaliaMayita.

Alejandro Wyss and Marissa Wyss ’97 have re-located to Los Angeles, where he now runs operations for SpeedNews Aerospace & Defense Events.

Anuj Desai and his wife, Joanna Baum, have a baby girl. Little Ziya is happy and healthy, and Anuj lives close to veteran parents Billy Kheel, Ben Bell, and Becca Cutter ’97.

Colby and Sara Evans live in Austin with their three children, Quinn (7), Malcolm (5), and Ruby (3). They have expanded their dermatology practice, which now has seven medical providers across three locations. In July, Colby will become chair of the board of directors of the National Psoriasis Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (psoriasis.org).

James Weinberger is living happily in Brooklyn along with half of the alumni of all of Wesleyan, his wife Erica of 15 years, and sons Eli (11) and Nate (7). (Both were kindergarten students of the amazing Semeka Smith-Williams ’97 at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights.) He is lucky enough to be practicing copyright and trademark litigation as a partner at Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu and recently gave an appellate argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where he represented DC Comics in a lawsuit about whether the Batmobile was protectable under copyright law. He is looking forward to our 20th Reunion next year.

Mary Pagones published her first novel, The Horse Is Never Wrong, available on Amazon and from most other major booksellers in e-book and paperback form: amazon.com/dp/B00RYFUDCY/

DARA FEDERMAN | darasf@yahoo.com

DACQUE TIRADO | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Khaim Morton ’95 writes: “I’m now the chief of staff to assembly member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who represents the 54th California State Assembly district. It includes Los Angeles, Westwood, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, and Culver City. I also recently got married. My wife and I both live and work in Sacramento, Calif.”

Andrew Hindman ’95 plans to attend the Reunion with his spouse.

In 2014, David M. Perry published more than 45 articles on topics such as higher education, disability, and police violence for CNN, Al Jazeera, the Chronicle of Higher Education, etc. In February of 2015, Penn State University Press will publish his book Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. He interviewed Wes President Michael Roth ’78 here: chronicle.com/article/PresidentsPublic/150879/

Katy McNeill writes, “I’ve been living in the Boston area for 13 years (probably with many of you close by but we just haven’t run into each other). Still working in the MIT Libraries (same place but evolving role). I look forward to seeing everyone at Reunion; I’ll be bringing my family: wife Sharie and our two daughters, 9 and 5.

Cheryl Mejia sends an update that’s “pretty much similar to last update. Finishing last year of residency. Got some good potentials, yet looking for a PM&R job, with focus on interventional and sports med. Marriage is legal in Florida now! I am engaged to Clare Madrigal, a quick ER nurse who will be relocating with me. Think you already know I’m VP of Women In Medicine, annual conference and network of LBT physicians.”

Dwayne D. Busby is now executive director of development and alumni relations at the University of Houston—Clear Lake. He still lives in Houston with his wife, two daughters (9 and 7), and his mom. Go to yourhoustonnews.com/bay_area/news/ and look up “Busby” for an article about his career news

DWAYNE BUSBY | dwaynedbusby@gmail.com