Author: Caroline Liu '18

Raya Salter Moore writes, “I’m a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council focusing on electricity policy. My daughter is 14 and in high school. Still living in New Rochelle, N.Y. Saw Hayley Buchbinder and her family (adorable two young sons and hubby) this past summer.”

Jon Morgan says, “I’m in Dallas (my hometown) and run a corporate public relations firm, Perry Street Communications. My wife, Liz Seabury ’95, is assistant general counsel at a restaurant company, Le Duff America. We have two boys: Henry, 10, and Oliver, 7.”

Jennifer Cunningham says, “Hello, all. I’ve never written an update before so I will keep the last 20 years brief. Moved to Denver, moved to London, left the glamorous world of telecom, and now live in Boulder County with my husband and two kids. I recently started Ask Why Films to lend a voice to social issues. Our first documentary is Disruptive Ed—a film to inspire audiences to reimagine education in their local schools and effect the necessary changes.”

Charlotte Castillo writes, “Greetings from NYC…I am working hard being a mom to my 5-year-old ‘lil man’ and as VP of international brand management for Viacom Media Networks—driving brand strategy and creative for our consumer products business around the world! It’s a fun job that takes me around the world—London, Singapore, Milan, Paris, Panama City, São Paolo, among others, including (hopefully) Sydney next spring. And one thing all these cities have in common—Wesleyan! I’ve seen Wesleyan tees, bumper stickers, and more in almost all of these cities! That is truly why! I’m in touch with the fabulous Patria Rodriguez ’93, Cynthia Centeno ’93, and Lisette Nieves ’92—all doing their thing in media, education, and nonprofit worlds, respectively.”

Tanya Bowers and her husband, Martin Valadez Torres, welcomed their son, George Israel Valadez, on Oct. 15th. Tanya moved to Washington State’s Tri-Cities from Washington, D.C., in the late summer 2014. She welcomes contact from Wes alums who find themselves in eastern Washington State. Tanya says, “I am on the Wesleyan Alumni of Color Council and interested alums should reach out to me if they want to get involved.”

Cris Ruggiero writes, “I have been living and working in Pittsburgh, for the last six years at the University of Pittsburgh. I’m an associate dean in the School of Arts and Sciences, and I oversee the College of General Studies. The College serves about 2500 students, through degree, non-degree, and certificate programs as well as housing the Osher lifelong learning program and the University’s Office of Veteran Services. I enjoy the diversity of our student population and the programs we provide. I live in the city with my husband, who is an assistant professor of biological sciences at Pitt, and our 5-year-old daughter, who is in kindergarten. I’ve also been volunteering for the past five years with a mentoring program called Strong Women Strong Girls, and I still do Wesleyan alumni interviews. In terms of Wes people in Pittsburgh, we see Brant Hasler often; he is an assistant professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Pitt. Otherwise, I saw Julie Beattie Reeves and Jon Bender during a quick conference trip to Denver. Both are doing well, and Julie and I compared job notes as she is now working in higher ed as an associate vice chancellor of brand marketing for the University of Denver.”

Thank you to all who wrote in with updates. Please keep sending us your news.

Jiyoung Lim Gilbreth and Ilana wind newell
94notes@gmail.com

Hi Wes ’93ers. Whenever you write, it reminds us of the wonderful experiences we had at Wesleyan. Fortunately, Wesleyan memories didn’t come to an abrupt end in May 1993; we continue to create new ones whenever we revisit the campus, reconnect with a classmate, or attend a Reunion. Thanks so much for sharing your news; we have career updates, trips around the world, and a b’not mitzvah in these notes.

Aaron Barr writes: “Things are actually pretty exciting for me and my wife, Anner, right now. We’re into month three of a year-long round-the-world trip! I’m currently e-mailing from Vilcabamba, Ecuador, after busing today from Saraguro, where we spent a couple of days meeting different indigenous artists. Loved it! If anyone is interested, we’re blogging at nomaprequired.com and Facebook-ing at nomaprequired. Always glad to hear from fellow Wes- lums!

Paul Foster sends this update: “I am an otolaryngologist (ENT) doctor in Miami. I have two kids, Emily and Alex, 10 and 11. We like mud runs, horseback riding in Colorado, growing multiple varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and the occasional skiing trip, like this last winter, when my daughter proudly joined the ranks of snowboarders and my son developed new records for straight downhill speed, not necessarily a good thing. Although many may remember me as a member of the Wesleyan Spirits, I don’t sing much anymore, except in the operating room.”

Arik Greenberg keeps busy lecturing at Loyola Marymount, serving as the academic dean at Sierra State University, and heading up the Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace, and Justice, an interfaith activism group. He is also renovating his parents’ house in Long Island, writing a book, The Exile, and keeping busy with numerous other projects in academia. Arik saw Dan Kapelovitz and Noel Lawrence at a screening of Dan’s movie, Triple Fisher, in Hollywood this past fall.

Mike Heman e-mails: “I’m living in Boston with my wife, Megan, whom I met at Wes when she transferred for a semester from Wellesley. I’m a professor of biology at MIT and director of the MIT grad program in biology. My research lab works on cancer therapy, and we’re hosting an undergrad from Wes for a research internship this summer.”

Sue Henshon’s novel, Andy Lightfoot and the Time Warp, was published on Amazon Kindle.

Dina Kaplan’s update: “After two years traveling the world (I know, rough life) I just launched a new company called The Path, which teaches ancient meditation techniques but in a modern way, to a very modern audience. Come join us and/or say hi if you’re in NYC or L.A.!”

Jason Moss writes, “Having worked at Kaplan Test Prep since 2007, I recently launched a new business (as part of Kaplan) called Metis (thisismetis.com), which accelerates people’s careers in data science. Right now, we do this by teaching intensive 12-week ‘bootcamps’ in New York. Aside from work, I’ve been blogging about billiards movies (billiardsmovies.com), running races like the Tough Mudder, re-reading the whole Harry Potter series to my son, and developing a liking for single malt Scotch.”

Stacy Olitsky moved back to Philly and is an assistant professor of teacher education at Saint Joseph’s University. She also plays banjo in several local bands.

Antonia Townsend writes: “I had a birthday party, where I got to see David Derryck and Erica Terry Derryck. We are in year two of selling sumptuous knickers here at Enclosed (TheEnclosed.com). I’m thrilled to report we can count several classmates as customers! While living in San Francisco we are spending every weekend we can up in Tahoe, so let us know if you are near the lake!”

Sadie Van Buren congratulates Dennis Toner ’95 on his promotion to enterprise sales manager, Cloud, at Microsoft. She and Dennis connected in 2014 through their work at BlueMetal Architects, and in her new role as director of strategic alliances at BlueMetal. She is looking forward to many more years of working with Dennis as a partner.

Jessica Gutow Viner and Dan Viner celebrated the b’not mitzvah of their twin daughters, Gaby and Rebecca, in November. They live in Nashville, where Dan practices ENT, and Jessica works for Vanderbilt in admissions. Son Jacob, 11, is following in Dan’s shoes on the soccer pitch.

John Weathers writes, “I have moved back to Philadelphia and although missing Colorado, I’m adjusting again to life in the big city and being a single dad. In addition to spending time with my two wonderful daughters, Rose (9) and Eden (7), I’m now a senior researcher at the 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education, where I have research and development projects including a large project in Egypt funded by USAID to develop innovative secondary STEM schools. Still playing bluegrass, old-time, and folk music and recently started a project to take people on music and arts adventures to different parts of the world. If you’re interested, you can check out the project at culturalbridgeproject.com or on Facebook: theculturalbridgeproject.”

Smokey Fontaine writes, “After seven years as CCO of Interactive One, I launched my own digital creative agency this year called a+ (aplusdream.com), dedicated to high-end original content, experiences, and strategy. Was proud to work with Paramount Pictures, as one of my first clients, on the film Selma. My beautiful wife, Stephanie Addison-Fontaine, was elected to the Tenafly, N.J., Board Of Education, becoming the first Black woman to ever serve in one of New Jersey’s highest performing school districts.”

Thanks so much for sharing all your news!

SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com

SARAH ESTOW | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Adam writes: Greetings, all! As I write this, my kids are home from school for the sixth day in the last three weeks and I’m looking at 30-foot pile of snow from my window. It was so big that it actually made the local news as it became a makeshift neighborhood ski slope. It’s been a heck of a winter here in Boston. Otherwise, though, things are well. I continue to live in a 500-person graduate student dorm at MIT with my family and remain gainfully employed as a political science professor.

Last November, I went to D.C. to give a talk at George Washington University and spent a day with my old housemates Chris Heikemian and Jon Pratt. It was great to catch up, but even better, just a couple months later Jon got engaged to Bridget Lines. Jon and Bridget met in Pakistan, both working for the State Department, and will be posted together in China as their next assignment.

It was great to hear from a bunch of my old Clark 3 hallmates as well. Ruthbea Yesner Clark lives in Brookline, Mass., and has a terrific job —as a smart city expert—writing, researching, and consulting with cities and vendors around the world about emerging technologies in urban environments. She is planning her first trip to Saudi Arabia for a project there. Sam Robinson lives in Philadelphia with his wife and daughter, 11. Sam has been practicing architecture in Philly since 1998. In 2011, he started his own firm, and in 2013 formed a partnership with Jane Ahn—Ahn + Robinson Studio. They do primarily residential renovation work in the city. Finally, Anne (Jennings) Paris and her family (husband Marc, son Duncan, 10) are taking a hiatus from their lives in Portland, Ore. Over the summer, they moved to London, where they plan to be for two years. They are renting in Kew near the Thames and living out every English major’s fantasy of getting to know England. Duncan is enrolled in a state primary school. Marc works as a software design consultant, and Anne is a part-time teacher at a small private school. She keeps up with what’s happening in the States by reading Sarah Guernsey’s and Adam Blumer’s live coverage of major cultural events and trends on Facebook.

Jill Slater proudly (though belatedly) announces the birth of Slater Ande Schwartzberg. She and Jill share a birthday of 12/12. Slater is 14 months old and loves to dance. Jill continues to develop her second career as a sustainable food systems consultant, building on her first career as a city planner.

Mark Hunter is moving to Burlington, Vt., in April with his wife of six years. He published his first book in 2014 and his executive leadership coaching company (Pinnacle Coaching) is 10 years old this year and going well. Also on the publishing front, Kristina Milnor’s second book came out last January: Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii (Oxford, 2014).

In other New England news, Dina Amsterdam is a visiting scholar at MIT, bringing the practices and principles of InnerYoga to a variety of projects at the MIT Media Lab. She’s normally based in San Francisco and Marin County.

Also in New England, Jonathan Bell wrapped up his first year of running his own architecture practice in Providence. Alongside teaching drawing and design studios at RISD and Roger Williams University, he has been occupied with a number of projects, including an addition to a 1950s Better Homes and Gardens plan house, and renovations to a 1920s service station, to be repurposed as a natural-chewing-gum company’s headquarters.

Maurice Harris started a new job as rabbi/senior educator with InterfaithFamily (interfaithfamily.com), a national Jewish nonprofit organization supporting interfaith couples and families and providing training and resources to Jewish community organizations on welcoming and inclusion of interfaith families. He still lives in Eugene, Ore., with his wife, Melissa Crabbe, and their two children, Clarice and Hunter.

Amy Larson continues to practice law at a small firm in Portland, Ore. She and her partner welcomed their first child into the world in September. Also, Amy had the chance to see Eric Leach ’92 a while back at his wedding in NYC.

Also on the West Coast, Rick Barot has been living in Tacoma, Wash., for 10 years now, directing the low-residency MFA program in creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University. His third book of poems, Chord, will be published by Sarabande Books in July 2015. He’s also the poetry editor for New England Review. Corinne Drumheller lives in Seattle with her husband, David, and their two children, Talia (7) and Zane (2).

Chris Chesak just took a job as director of partnerships with Intrepid Travel and reports that he, Karen Cacase, and Mike Flynn ’93 received a warm and vibrant welcome from Costas Darras during a recent chance meeting at a restaurant in Harlem.

In November Jennifer Schonborn attended Wesleyan’s Sons and Daughters weekend, which allows Wes alums to come to campus with their kids who are juniors in high school. She brought her daughter Charlotte (an overdetermined member of the class of ’20 since Jennifer’s husband is Rik Treiber ’91), and had a great time being on campus, seeing all the new buildings, and having a nice talk with our frosh dean Meg Zocco. While there, Jennifer ran into David Kane ’92. Though they didn’t know each other at Wes, they had a great time together with their kids.

Speaking of David, he writes, “Ty Jagerson (CEO) and I are partners in an investment crowdfunding platform for clean energy projects called Village Power. Ty and the team cover the West Coast from the home office in Palo Alto, while I run East Coast operations from NYC. We recently won a SunShot grant from the Department of Energy for promising new solar finance models.”

David Shadrack Smith continues to helm a production company in New York, part2 pictures, which just showed its first narrative feature film, I’ll See You in My Dreams, at Sundance this January. Part2 is entering its ninth year and it’s best known for the series This Is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. This fall, his series, Belief with Oprah Winfrey, will get to air after three years in production around the world.

Heather Claudine Nash continues to practice psychology. Her short collection of poems, The Problem with Loving Ghosts (published under her middle name Claudine), was recently released by Finishing Line Press.

Byron King joined, as director of software engineering, a company providing hardware and software services to credit unions across the country.

Noelle Nelson enjoys living in Atlanta and working at the CDC on vaccine research and policy in the US and globally, with a focus on hepatitis vaccine. She recently returned from Sierra Leone and the Ebola emergency response.

Wendy Moore Hershey was part of the closing bell ceremony at the NYSE on Jan. 29 because of work she does as a field consultant to nonprofit clients at Mercer Investments The biggest fans? Wendy’s kids, ages 6, 6, and 5 who went crazy “seeing Mommy on TV.”

That’s the news for now. Don’t forget to write to me or Paul—we’d love to hear from you!

ADAM BERINSKY | berinsky@mit.edu

PAUL COVIELLO | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

Bayard Klimasmith reports that Betsy Klimasmith continues as a professor at UMASS Boston, and Bayard serves as an assistant principal at a middle school in Lexington. Their 16-year-old daughter is a junior and Wesleyan made her short list! Meanwhile, their 5-year-old is looking forward to kindergarten next year and “keeping us a lot younger than we had planned; we are in this parenting thing for a loooonnng more time!”

After working in the diplomatic arena as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs during the first term of the Obama Administration, Spencer “Kip” Boyer is enjoying his deep dive into national security. He’s taken the position of National Intelligence Officer for Europe in the National Intelligence Council, the center for long range strategic thinking within the U.S. intelligence community. He’s also an assistant adjunct professor at the BMW Center for German and European Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Jeremy Sacks, preeminent host of Portland, Oregon, welcomed Nicki and Jim Miller to town to “watch the worst Celtics team of our lifetimes defeat my Blazers. After that, we tasted a boatload of beers in Astoria and Portland, visited a craft bike shop with a beer bar and projection room, and ate well. No, Fred and Carrie weren’t there in person. A good time was had by all.”

Also taking Jeremy up on his hospitality was Scott Timberg, who lives in LA with wife Sara and son Ian, 8. Scott’s book Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class, came out with Yale University Press in January, to great acclaim. Subtitled How Sweeping Economic and Social Changes Are Imperiling Artists, Writers, Musicians, and America, the book digs into the roots of what is happening to artists, from the economic recession to social shifts to technological change. Most importantly, he explains why this matters: “When artists and artisans can’t make a living, we all pay the price.”

Jeremy Arnold continues working as a writer for Turner Classic Movies’ website, and his book Lawrence of Arabia: The 50th Anniversary was published by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2012. You will also be able to find Jeremy providing audio commentary on a restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn, being released in May.

In September 2014, Drew Marrochello was officially named Boston University’s director of athletics. Drew joined the BU athletic department in 2005 and is the 13th athletic director in Boston University history.

As many of you read on Facebook or the Class Notes listserv, we lost one of our own in 2014: Jennifer Entine Matz. Bayard sent me this warm-hearted remembrance, “We were housemates senior year and, besides her disdain for the mac and cheese (with mustard and frozen peas) that Joseph and I made, she was just…awesome. A serious loss. A star just went out in our constellation.”

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

As I write this, it is 11 degrees in New York (with a wind chill making it feel like minus-6) so I am hoping for a significant improvement in the weather by the time of your reading. I also hope that all of your calendars are marked for our upcoming 25th Reunion (May 21–24). Here’s what we have:

Rebecca Rossen Pavkovic was promoted to associate professor in the Performance as Public Practice Program at the University of Texas at Austin and is the author of Dancing Jewish: Jewish Identity in American Modern and Postmodern Dance (Oxford University Press, 2014). She was scheduled to give the annual Dr. Cynthia Novack (In Memoriam) lecture at Wesleyan this past January but the event was postponed due to the storm that hit the U.S. Rescheduling is in the works. Rebecca lives in Austin with her husband, David Pavkovic, and their two daughters, Zoe and Lily.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner wrote with the big news that he was appointed as the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (The RAC), “which for 50 years has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C. The civil rights act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965 were drafted in our conference room, as the RAC convenes coalitions across lines of race, class and faith to advocate for social change. My family and I are moving to DC!”

My former Foss 7 hallmate Carol Lynne Booth wrote that her son, Joshua, is now a freshman in college. He is attending UC, San Diego, and is majoring in computer science. “We spent MLK weekend with him and he did a great job showing us around campus. We are thrilled to have him in San Diego, since it is such a beautiful place to visit. We always stay close to campus at a hotel right on the beach, which is just gorgeous.” Carol’s daughter, Naomi (16), “is starting to drive and also acting in her high school musical, and daughter Maytal (13) is performing in the ballet Sleeping Beauty in the spring.” My big news is that I started a new job this past June. I am the program director of the Jewish Baby Network, a nonprofit that helps build Jewish community for families with new babies. It’s tons of fun working with the parents and getting to play with lots of babies.” Carol will be in Seattle this summer “visiting David’s family, since Josh will be working there. I would love to be able to make it to the Reunion, but it is, as always, over the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, so I’ll have to miss it. I hope everyone has a great time!”

Mark Hsieh sends greetings from Taipei, Taiwan, where his twin boys, Terry and Timothy, just started first grade last fall. They’re keeping him and wife Joanna “plenty busy but also many bedtime stories to share. I’m running and investing in a bunch of ventures from a fine chemical plant to curry restaurant. Don’t worry, we keep both quite separate from each other! Come visit!”

Nick Hardigg is living in Portland, Ore., with his wife Karen and “two kiddos, Ashe and Ellie, enjoying nonprofit advocacy and fundraising work for the city’s parks, especially the underserved. ‘Parke Diem’, everyone!”

Jeanne Kramer-Smyth writes with exciting news: Her second short story has been included in an anthology of science fiction short stories targeting middle grade readers. The 2015 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats. Her first published short story, “In Her Arms,” can be found in Stepmothers and the Big Bad Wolf: Fairy Tale Villains Reimagined. Jeanne lives in Maryland with her husband, son, sister-in-law, and cat.

Nadine Angress is still living in the Boston area (“24 years and counting”) with her husband and 8-year-old son. She continues to work at Fidelity, most recently as a director of operations for Private Wealth Management. She gets together frequently for dinner with fellow swim team members Jennifer Zoltners Sherer ’91 and Michael Mahon ’89. She’s looking forward to seeing old friends at Reunion, as well as watching her nephew, Raphael Linden ’15, graduate the same weekend.

Paige Harding writes that since leaving Wes, she lived in Seattle for several years, earned an M.A. in film studies at the University of Iowa and then moved to L.A. to work at the American Film Institute. After many years at AFI, she joined with a colleague to form an independent production company called One Bird Mocking, of which she is the chief operating officer. One Bird Mocking is preparing to make its first film, a screwball comedy called The Threat of Sex. They are “using a production model inspired by Mark Twain (who pre-sold his books by subscription before they were actually published), in which we plan to finance the film shoot by pre-selling tickets to the finished movie.” Tickets start at $5.00 and can be purchased through the company website at onebirdmocking.com/tickets/. In addition to crowd funding, One Bird Mocking has also created a promotional Threat of Sex mobile app, which can be downloaded for free at iTunes or Google Play. The app celebrates famous women, and they hope users will find it both fun and educational.

Finally, Becky Lloyd DesRoches writes from Lexington, Mass., where she lives with husband David, and two children, Nick (14) and Dawson (8). Becky is a professor of psychology at Regis College, sings with the Lexington Pops chorus, and plays on a 40-and-up soccer team. “Sports, music, and academia—the more things change the more they stay the same. My 14-year-old just released his first full-length CD under the artist name NonRanDom. I’m biased but it’s outstanding original music. Can’t wait to see everyone at Reunion.” That’s all for now. See you in May!

Vanessa montag brosgol
vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Let’s discuss how apples (and more) don’t fall very far from trees… As we huddle up to eyeball what’s going on with our classmate, Michael Goldman and his son, 10-year-old Max, and Mike’s 17-year-old nephew, Sam: Max is excelling at playing drums and Sam is competing in the NY State Wrestling Championship Finals. So Sam is clearly super-sporty but don’t let that fool you. Sam was also accepted at Harvard and missed a perfect SAT score by 60 points. Those are the Goldman ‘apples’. Meanwhile, Michael…As founding partner of NCredible Entertainment and Nick Cannon’s manager, he has been busy, y’all. In the last two months alone, they’ve shot 36 episodes of television for multiple networks; have now got 14 episodes of already greenlit material going into production and other amazing treats to come. All good stuff and here’s more talk of more ‘apples’ falling and whatnot:

Jonathan Fried’s daughter got accepted to Wesleyan—making him officially ’89 and P’19. We’re also hearing there are more ’89er’s offspring heading into the class of 2019. With all that ’89 energy, we’re thinking that class is already looking pretty promising!

Jennifer Levine represented the screenwriters for the movie Birdman, and was last seen celebrating the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

We heard from Jeffrey Bowne, who says that last year he left The Hartford Insurance Company (and the Hartford area) to move to northeast Pennsylvania and open up a Sky Zone indoor trampoline park. In his own words: “I bought a franchise with my brother-in-law and we opened in Sept. of 2014. It has been a lot of fun switching gears from corporate life to owning and running a 20,000 sq. foot trampoline park. We’ve met a lot of interesting people and have been fortunate to have more than 50,000 jumpers come through since we opened. I extend an open invite if anyone is passing thru Scranton on I-81.” Jump on it, people!

Eric Simon published his first solo-author college textbook, Biology: The Core. About a third of U.S. college students who take a general ed introductory biology course do so using one of Eric’s textbooks. Also, Eric was thrilled to have been invited last summer to speak as part of Wesleyan’s Summer Science Seminar series.

Amy Berk writes: “I am sorry to have missed Reunion last year but I was happy and energized to hear the reports of my classmates. I remain in the Bay Area and have been busy with my two sons (Benjamin, 10, and Jude, 6) and my wonderful husband Andy Cox (not a Wes alum but he loves going to all Wesevents such as the upcoming one with President Michael Roth ’78).” Amy has been teaching a variety of courses at the San Francisco Art Institute and also at the University of California, Berkeley, extension in the post-baccalaureate program visual arts program. Last summer, she had great family fun with some ’89rs around the country. She’s “already looking forward to the 30th Reunion—I can spin it as a college tour for my eldest!”

Doug Abel continues to work as a film editor here and there, but most of his time and effort is going to help abused and neglected farm animals with the organization he cofounded, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. The rescue/educational facility is moving in spring 2015 to a new, 150-acre site about 90 minutes from NYC, and will now host summer camps and larger vegan-related events. He was tickled to see that Wes was picked “Most Vegan-Friendly College” in 2012. More info on his doings at WoodstockSanctuary.org.

We also heard from Denise Hill Day y’all. Yay! She and her daughter have moved to Houston. She writes: “All is good, settling in and getting to know this new….foreign land.”

Great stuff going on. ’Til next time…

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Hillary writes for this issue.

Greetings Wesleyan Class of 1988. By the time you read this, Boston may finally be starting to melt from the endless snow, and I might actually be able to see some pavement again.

My partner-in-class-notes-crime, Peter Bond, writes: “Zahra and I are settling into our new Rhode Island life. I’ve been able to connect with many area alums. On my birthday, Jim Maynard hosted a round of golf down in Westerly, R.I., with Oli Bennett, Stu Ellman, and me. I ran into Greg Waldron at an undergrad recruiting event in Providence.”

Len Besthoff and his wife and teenage daughters call South Windsor, Conn., home after stops including the Jersey Shore; Roanoke, Va.; and Raleigh, N.C. He sees Dave Hill fairly often, and they run the famous Manchester (CT) Road Race every Thanksgiving, along with the annual River to Sea Relay across New Jersey every summer. Len is now the chief investigative reporter for NBC Connecticut, where he interned during his senior year at Wes. He loves doing this type of reporting full-time, and mentoring young journalists. Len also teaches newswriting classes nearby.

I heard from Julie Schwarzwald: “After 20 years (with a few years of pure mommyhood in the middle) of teaching elementary school—public and private in New York, California, and New Jersey—I have had a career shift. As of July 1, I am the education and youth director at the East Brunswick Jewish Center. My responsibilities include being principal of the Hebrew School and overseeing the youth groups, along with whatever other Shabbat, family, and holiday programs come my way. I am enjoying the new challenges; my colleagues and congregants; and the feeling of being appreciated, respected, and treated as a professional—something that had become lacking in my teaching position. I think the best parts are the hours of leisure time gained by not having any papers to grade! In the meantime, Howard Bochner ’87 has been working for the United Steelworkers Union, based in Pittsburgh.”

And writing in for the first time… Peter Gager reports that he is a neuropsychologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.

As for me, I’m keeping busy with the PhD program I run at MIT, and am still teaching a tango class at BU every week. I took up crochet as a hobby last year, and ended up opening an Etsy shop because the projects were taking over my apartment. It was fun completing items over the winter for Linda Brinen Stout and Bronwyn Poole.

Peter and I love hearing from you, so please keep writing in.

PETER v.s. BOND | 007@pvsb.org

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Dear Classmates:

Thanks for always writing in. Here goes.

Chris Tacy is still living in San Francisco. “I now work for Mozilla Corporation doing Corporate Development. I still travel a lot to Hawaii for outrigger paddling and surfing. I still rarely if ever see other Wes Alum, though I did see David Raymond and Jessica Glass last year in New York City, and had a lovely evening with Jon Lee in Portland a few months ago.”

Claire Conceison is a professor at Duke University but is spending 2014-2015 as a visiting professor at Harvard University and MIT, teaching courses on China, theater, and sports. She just wrote the introduction for a new edition of Arthur Miller’s book Salesman in Beijing (retitled Death of a Salesman in Beijing) being published by Bloomsbury (2015) for the hundredth anniversary of Miller’s birth. She spends weekends in NYC and would love to hear from Wesmates in NY, Boston, and NC.

Nancy (Dobrow) Bean writes that “Life is fun here in the Pioneer Valley – snow snow snow…!!  My family is great – oldest daughter is starting her Clinical Rotation at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, the middle child is looking at colleges and my youngest is working on becoming a famous pastry chef (she is 10 yrs old and a good planner.)  Mike Bean is selling Organic Coffee and I am busy planning the Nantucket Wine Festival.   I have been traveling a lot for work – France and Napa mostly – and our 19th annual NWF is around the corner – May 13-17, 2015.  Would love Wes alums to join us this year!! Eric Asimov, NY Times Wine Critic (and Wes class of 1980) will be there again… email me and you can get the special Wesleyan Pass…!!  nancy@nwfest.net.  Cheers!

Adam Joseph is alive and well and living in God’s country (Maplewood, NJ) with his lovely wife of nearly 24 years, Susan Kraham (Columbia ’87), three sons, two dogs and a cat. I tried to get my oldest son interested in Ole’ Wes but he chose Colby where he is a freshman. On the career front, I’ve worked in the muni finance business for the last 20 plus years, financing the infrastructure you use every day.  I don’t see too many Wes folks other than my dear friend, the magnificent Dan Bellow, but keep up with more on social media and think about many more of you often and fondly. Recently ran up to Middletown on a side trip from my middle son’s soccer camp, saw my old boss Brian O’Rourke and enjoyed a Graduate Omelet.

Lisa Pavlovsky “is now Manager of Scholarship programs for the SF-based Jewish community federation working half time so I can still be active in the schools of my two sons, ages 10 and 12. Still in regular touch with Elissa Wolf-Tinsman and Vivian Trakinski who are both doing well.  Can’t believe I’m turning 50 this year!”

Dorian Harding-Morick works at Yale University’s library system—and every once in a while travels the ½ hour or so to see Wes and Middletown.

Martha Haakmat writes: “On January 31st, a handful of Wes grads from ’87, and one kooky interloper from ’89, gathered together in Brooklyn to celebrate the group’s first dive into their 50th decade!  Rob Nix (now working at Penn State) turned 50, and Wes friends who celebrated with him in the home of Martha Haakmat and Stephen Warner were Gail Wheeler and Louis Canfield (’89).  Rob, Steve and Martha are planning a giant 50th birthday for them all this summer in Belize, where they will be joined by other friends from ’87, Brian Shelly, Nelly Taveras, Barney Berkowitz, Greg Barr, Wendy Trippe (’89) and Andy Kevy.

Steve Kaminsky married Leslie Repetto (UVA ’96) in March “and we’re expecting a daughter later in February. Had a great time working on two movies last year with Brad Fuller.  Enjoying life in Los Angeles.  Looking forward to fatherhood!”

John Katz and Lisa Dipko (’86) continue to enjoy living is sunny and dry dry dry San Francisco. I am going on 20 years at EPA, currently focusing on green electronics and safer consumer products. Lisa’s work at the VA nursing home continues to provide daily challenges, from flu outbreaks to new programs to marveling at the healing powers of the resident cat (see this link for pictures! http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Miley-VA-Medical-Center-s-healing-pet-cat-5024638.php). I’ve been kept busy coaching soccer and baseball for our 10-year-old Nicky, a particular challenge since I never really played baseball. Lisa sings in the San Francisco Soundwave, a women’s barbershop group that is known for their witty parodies and awesome costumes. We have kept in touch with Michael Foster who is a professor of folklore at Indiana University, though he has spent the better part of the last several years doing research in Japan. Simon Heart and Johanna Van Hise continue to live in Boulder CO with their three kids. Johanna has recently launched her nursing career after a resolute effort to get into and through nursing school. Locally we cross paths with Darya Mead having shared a preschool, and Mark Mowrey who works at EPA (and whose son recently graduated from Wes).

“Joan Morgan here. I’m a doctoral candidate in American Studies at NYU. I was recently awarded the 2015 Woodrow Wilson Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies for my dissertation The Pleasure Principle: Moving From a Politics of Silence To Politics.”

Sarah Plagenz Liepert “intended to write in a year ago, after a wonderful visit with fellow Foss 6-er Marc Benoff. Marc was in Boston on business from Philadelphia, and joined our family for an evening in Lincoln. Marc and I hadn’t seen each other since 1989! Fortunately, we recognized each other — despite his shorter haircut, and my braces (now off!). Marc was in Asia during our 25th reunion, so I shared some of that news. He sent shout-outs to Brad Lubin, Eric Leifer, Johanna Van Hise and many others (sorry — this is why I should have written when the memories were fresh). Marc and his wife have a daughter at Skidmore and a son who is a senior in high school. I had the pleasure of attending my freshman roommate Jenifer Goldman Fraser’s daughter Sasha’s bat mitzvah in February 2014. Sasha is a very accomplished young woman — no surprise! It was also a treat to see Jenifer’s parents, who are ageless. They looked just as young as when I met them in 1983.We now have two in high school: our son is a senior (all the college apps are in!) and our daughter is a freshman. Various sports, drama, and community service keep our family busy. For my part, I enjoy playing in several competitive tennis leagues (singles and doubles) throughout the year.

Natalie Diffloth sent this “Briefest of the brief updates: I’m in graduate school at the University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany, and am very excited to almost be done with my thesis in Transcultural Studies! Sending a big hello to all my old friends out there.”

John Penney: “Living in Santa Monica CA with wife Julie Rousseau and daughter Celeste Penney.  Working as Chief Strategy Officer for Starz Networks and trying to build a crystal ball to predict the future of media.”

Holly Campbell Ambler is “still living in Cambridge with my husband and two teenage daughters.  I’m working part-time as a child and family social worker. I keep up with Trish and John Dorsey, Doug Koplow and his wife Michele, and Dennis Mahoney and his wife Karen, connecting for dinners, plays, and musical events in Boston. I also see Barbara Lewis frequently, as we went to Simmons School of Social Work together (as “older” students) and now practice in the same field.

Kimberly (Jackson) DuMont works at the William T. Grant Foundation as a senior program officer. For the past 25 years I have been happily married to Mark DuMont (who received his masters from Wesleyan in 1987) and we have two boys and a spirited, 11 year old poodle. Jackson, our oldest son, is a sophomore at Wesleyan who hopes to major in film and Russian studies. Alex, is a high school senior. He is soon bound for Brandeis where he will continue studying music and venture into philosophy. When life slows down, we venture to Maine to spend time off the grid at a small cabin in the woods. Life is good!

Liz Kromelow-Dietz writes “Both my boys are at Wes now and loving it, Max Dietz ’16 and James Dietz ’18. I’m playing ice hockey most days. Still playing bridge. The life of an empty nester.”

Sheila Rhatigan Arcelona “still lives in San Francisco, still works for the District Attorney, happily married to Steve, raising a teenage daughter … San Francisco is changing before my eyes but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else … interesting and challenging times.”

Mick Malter wrote that “Jill and I had a busy fall, doing both high school applications for my daughter Astrid, and college applications for my son Ted. Guess which was more work… correct, the NYC high school applications!  Old news, but last year, when my son was a junior in high school, we took advantage of the Wesleyan college prep weekend for alum and staff.  It was a great weekend on campus, getting familiar with the college application process, and seeing Wes. In the small world dept, my daughter goes to school with Helen Reiss’ (nee?) son, and my son goes to school with Dana Goldberg’s daughter. I now have 22 years with the FDNY, and was excited to spend part of last summer on the fire/rescue boats, working the waters all around NY City.”

Sometimes I just have to print a submission as is, like this one from Linda Malias Passaro. “New career road taking me to Rockville MD as COO Chesapeake Bay Candle. Building global home fragrance multi Branded company. Factories in China. Vietnam and USA. Thinking back on what Wes taught me. How Wes prepared me. 3 kids learning a telecommuting mom life. Oldest Leeann at Lawrenceville school junior looking for liberal arts life. Allissa starting HS. Luke 13 starting his first company jewelry line called Luv Picks. Life full. Learned old Wes boyfriend Matthew Delson passed away last year. Life fragile. Enjoyed speaking on career panel at Wes last Feb seeing old familiar faces. Muzzy Rosenblatt and David Hill. Reconnecting with Joanne Melikian and Liza Barrett. Peace in 2015. O.A.R song Peace my go to.”

Lisa Ranghelli is “writing from snowy, cold Western Massachusetts, where I’ve finally embraced winter after 13 years of living here by learning to cross country ski. Better late than never…The rest of the time I (a) raise my son, Noah, who is 12, about to surpass me in height, and obsessed with Magic the Gathering; and (b) telecommute to my job at a national philanthropic research and advocacy organization in DC (National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy), where I’ve been for 7 years and currently lead a project that evaluates large foundations. I also participate in a cool drumming group, Offbeat Womyn’s Drumming Ensemble. I recently hosted Janet Lieberman, who lives in eastern MA, and during the fall I saw Karen Goldenberg on one of her visits home to Amherst from San Francisco. Last summer I rendezvoused with another long-time San Franciscan, Rachael Nusbaum (’88) and her family in Reston, VA to celebrate her birthday. On that topic, I’m looking forward to lots of 50th birthday celebrations with fellow Wes alum this year!

Maureen (Mo) Craig’s oldest son is now a sophomore at Amherst, so we’ve begun legal proceedings to officially disown him.  :-).  Next kid in line for college is currently a sophomore in high school and is interested in any school with a crew team, so Wes might even make the short list.  We’ve really enjoyed the college tour process–and that’s good because we will get to do it four times over. Indeed, life is grand.

From David Josephs: Professionally, after tiring of doing financial services, credit cards, and healthcare transactions, I recently left JPMorgan Chase after 12 years to join First Data, where I’ll be doing financial services, credit cards, and healthcare transactions. But with a different business card. My wife, Holly, and I visited my dad in southern California in December where we took a great hike in the hills and had a fantastic dinner with David Igler and Cindy Willard.  [Wit and Flash, I can already hear you giving me crap for not calling but it was a quick trip, I promise, and we spent a whole day at the Huntington Library with my dad, somehow managing not to see Blue Boy, and didn’t even get outside of Pasadena.]  Aside from that, just typical life in the Chicago suburbs, shoveling snow and looking forward to spring (which I assume will have arrived by the time this sees print).

Amy Baltzell is “living on Cape Cod with my husband while we are both professors at Boston University.  We have three kids: Zoey who loves her unicycle and tap dancing, Luke who loves computer programming and basketball and Shayna who hit 5’8” and loves to dance ballet. I have a book coming out this year, A Cambridge Companion to Mindfulness and Performance.  I am finding meditation a great pathway to joy and appreciation for life just as it is.

Lastly, I am very sad to report that our dear classmate, Annie Ravitz, passed away at the end of January.

Much love to you all,

Amanda Jacobs Wolf

wolfabj@gmail.com

Hope you had a great summer, and we look forward to seeing you on campus next spring for our 30th Reunion. You can already save the date: May 19-22!

Eric Howard | ehoward86@gmail.com

Caroline writing this time, from sunny Negril, Jamaica, where I am on a yoga retreat, which beats February in DC. Let me take a moment to exhort you to come to our 30th Reunion in May—I will be road-tripping with Jolynn Jones and Hillary Hess. I encourage you to get your buds together and head to Middletown. You can register at wesconnect.wesleyan.edu.

I got a nice note from Meg Dunham Dempsey: “I’m in Stamford, Conn., where my husband, Greg, and I have lived for 22 years. After a 15-year business career, I switched gears to be more involved with my young children’s daily lives and to improve the public schools. I worked as a substitute teacher, volunteered as a tutor and mentor for underserved children and worked for 10 years in an advocacy role for the Stamford public schools. I also coached soccer, lacrosse, and sailing. Four years ago I started a business tutoring high school math and SAT and ACT prep. I continue to serve as a volunteer tutor in the public schools.

“Our oldest daughter, Kim, graduated from Bowdoin last May and is teaching high school chemistry in Queens. Our second daughter, Ellie ’18, is a freshman, taking advantage of all Wesleyan has to offer, and our son, Will, was just accepted ED2 to Wesleyan for the class of 2019! It’s so exciting to be back on campus.

“I can’t wait for our 30th Reunion and look forward to seeing everyone in May. Anyone who danced under the tent at our 25th remembers how amazing it was! Those who didn’t need to experience it!” I absolutely second that!

KT Whaley wrote with some fun news: “Ellen Korbonski and I spent some time together at her daughter’s gymnastics meet at Chelsea Piers in Connecticut. It was great to reconnect, watching the kids do those amazing stunts! I’ve also connected with Martha Haakmat ’87; we are colleagues in Montessori education and discovered we share a lot of same values, including as turns out, our alma mater! My eldest daughter, Sarah (18!), was accepted at Newhouse School at Syracuse, and my younger, Emma becomes a bat mitzvah this spring, with my sister, Rabbi Jamie Korngold.

“I am organizing the second annual Pathways to a Peaceful School Conference for heads of school, teachers, and parents of children in Montessori schools, on July 23, 2015, in White Plains, N.Y.”

Toby Milgrome writes: “My husband’s work was featured in the Feb. 9, 2015, issue of TIME magazine, in an article called ‘The next best thing to a cure.’ My son, David, developed type 1 diabetes just before his first birthday. I had been a pediatrician for about two years when he got sick, and was able to get him diagnosed very quickly. David went from being a happy and active toddler, to a skinny, fatigued, spacey kid in less than one week. I brought him to see my partner and David perked up and pretended to be normal, just before he would have slipped into a diabetic coma and died. Luckily, my partner listened to my observations about his behavior over the past week—decreased activity, loss of normal interests, weight loss, lots of drinking and urinating. I was suspecting diabetes even though it is uncommon is someone so young. She got his labs and he was admitted to our ICU that night. Over the years Ed and I taught ourselves to be experts in the care of diabetes in such a tiny person. Knowing this as a parent, pediatrician (for me) and biomedical engineer (for Ed), we started dreaming about automating the treatment to take the endless data gathering and decision-making out of the chronic care. Thirteen years later, the work is actually almost done! Ed and his former graduate student, Firas El Khatib, have developed a bionic pancreas that has been tested in hundreds of volunteers with type 1 diabetes in hospital, summer camp, and home and work settings. It produces phenomenal blood sugar control. The person who wears the device needs to keep it up and running, but the bionic pancreas makes all dosing decisions and keeps the blood sugar nearly normal, nearly all of the time. This will prevent nearly all acute and chronic consequences of the disease while also making diabetes much less of a burden for people with it day in and day out. It is the next best thing to a cure!” That is really interesting!

That’s it for this time; let’s catch up in person on Foss Hill in May.

CAROLINE WILKINS | mbkeds@yahoo.com

MARY BETH KILKELLY | cwilkins85@yahoo.com