etaylor – Page 5 – Wesleyan Magazine Classnotes

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1950-19592022/10/19

David E. Berlew ’53, P’79

David E. Berlew, a retired psychologist and management consultant specializing in organization change, management development, and entrepreneurial behavior, died on September 28, 2022, at his home at Kendal at Hanover in Hanover, NH. He was 91.

David was born in Orono, ME, in 1931 to Lillian (née Kingston) and Herman Berlew. They were both Methodist ministers. After the family moved to New Bedford, MA, when David was 13, he and his older brother Kingston attended the local high school in New Bedford, MA, where David lettered in football. Of his many accomplishments, few gave him as much pride as his induction years later into the New Bedford High School Football Hall of Fame. David started college at Iowa State and eventually graduated from Wesleyan University, but only after two years with the Army in Germany. He married his first wife Diane (née Lehnhardt) in 1956. David went on to obtain a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Harvard University. He taught at both Wesleyan University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. In the mid-1960s, he served tours in Turkey and Ethiopia as country director for the Peace Corps.

In 1968, David started McBer and Company in Boston, a research and consulting firm, with his Harvard mentor David McClelland. Their firm specialized in mapping the competencies of entrepreneurs and managers across the world. This work enabled him to travel all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. Another early member of McBer was Richard Boyatzis, with whom David worked on leveraging McClelland’s work on achievement, affiliation and motivation. David authored and co-authored many books and articles with Warren Bennis, Richard Boyatzis, Douglas Hall, Roger Harrison, David Kolb, Earl Rose, Irwin Ruben, Ed Schein, Fritz Steele and others.

In 1976, David, Roger Harrison and Earl Rose founded the company Situation Management Systems, built around the Positive Power and Influence Program that they created. They worked with many Fortune 500 companies and the US government, licensing programs and trainers all over the world.

David was a mentor and friend to many during his long life. He is remembered by his many friends, colleagues and clients as a person who injected energy into every situation. His laughter and quirky meeting observations are legendary in the many businesses he helped. He was a magnet for emerging consultants and had a significant role in starting many consulting companies. Years later, he served in leadership roles with “Instructional Systems Association,” the professional association of consulting/training companies.

David and Diane hosted many get togethers at their home in Newton, MA. These included Sunday morning touch football games, where he pioneered taping his glasses to his (hairless) head; dinners and holiday parties that featured competitive games of twister and dancing; and poker tournaments. True to David’s Maine origins, he, Diane, and their children vacationed on the Downeast coast with close family friends. These vacations were famous for raucous costume and dinner parties.

After some years of living in Maine with his family, David returned to Massachusetts and eventually settled in Duxbury, MA, with his second wife Jennipher. There they made a beautiful home overlooking Duxbury Bay. These were peak fishing years, when David brought many friends and family members on (mostly) successful outings. He also expanded his fishing interests to include both fresh and saltwater fly fishing. During this time David also reconnected with old university friends like Jack Hoy. In addition to fishing, David loved following New England sports teams and was often seen at Celtics games in the original Garden with his old friend and colleague Dan Ciampa.

After retiring, David eventually moved to New Hampshire, where he enjoyed writing stories, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and long walks with his third wife Meryl and later with his good friend Joan.

David is survived by his first wife Diane Berlew; his children Christopher Berlew (Linda) of Washington, DC; Katherine Berlew Santopadre (Kevin) of Round Rock, TX; Lucinda Berlew (Christopher) of Houston, TX; Michele Berlew of Houston, TX; and Adam Berlew (Janesta) of Redwood City, CA; as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His second wife Jennipher Mills and good friend Joan Kidder also survive him. Another grandson died in 2019. David was predeceased by his parents Herman (1974) and Lillian (1992), and by older brother Kingston (2021). His third wife Meryl Louis died in 2011.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Kendal at Hanover Emergency Staff Relief Fund at:

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=kendal&id=104

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1950-19592022/10/19

Frank S. LaBella ’52, MA ’54

Frank S. LaBella ’52, MA ’54 passed away on July 16, 2022. A full obituary can be found here.

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1950-19592022/10/19

Harold “Hal” C. Buckingham Jr. ’52

Harold “Hal” C. Buckingham Jr. ’52 passed away on June 5, 2022. A full obituary can be found here.

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1950-19592022/10/19

Gordon B. Wall ’51

Gordon B. Wall ’51 passed away on May 9, 2022. A full obituary can be found here.

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1960-19692022/10/192022/10/19

Frank G. Binswanger Jr. ’50, P’76, 78, GP’13, ’15

Frank G. Binswanger Jr. ’50, P’76, 78, GP’13, ’15 passed away on July 6, 2022. A full obituary can be found here.

Obituaries, Obituaries | 1940-19492022/10/19

Michel G. Vinaver ’46

Michel G. Vinaver ’46 passed away on May 1, 2022. A full obituary can be found here.

Class Notes, Class Notes | 2020s2022/10/18

CLASS OF 2021 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Bryan Chong writes: “Right after graduating, I served as communications director on the campaign of fellow Wesleyan alum Alicia Strong ’18, for mayor of New Britain. Then, I came back to Wesleyan in October 2021 as the civic engagement fellow for the Allbritton Center! In addition to that work, I serve in the leadership of the Central Connecticut chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America’s electoral wing, and have continued to do communications work for progressive candidates, such as another Wesleyan alum, Andy Gottlieb ’14 for state house.”

Virginia Sciolino says: “Right after graduation, I moved to Jackson, Mississippi, to work at the Foundation for the Mid South as part of my summer program as a SELI (Southern Education Leadership Initiative) fellow with the Southern Education Foundation. I interviewed education leaders in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi about regional equity issues, and I also put together some research about workplace practices and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Afterward, I moved home to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where I am currently interning for Tangi Carter, a public defense attorney, and working as a waitress at the same restaurant where my sister is a chef! I am so grateful that I was able to bring some of my knowledge about equity, labor history, and social change back to my home state, where I’ve also been able to connect with some of the Wes alums who are in the region!”

Gayon Yang shares: “I recently read Hope’s Boy by Andrew Bridge. Highly recommend.”

Edward Yanez says that he is “conducting research on Latin American history at Columbia University. My undergraduate thesis was published in the Journal of the Oxford University History Society, XV edition, and can be accessed at: https://www.ouhs.org/_files/ugd/a8b8e6_dca4eeff1738460092f11f4536fddac3.pdf.”

Nicole Adabunu writes: “I have been signed to the Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA); it’s the same agency that represents celebrities like Beyoncé, Viola Davis, Will Smith, and more. CAA will be representing me as a writer in their Publishing, Books, Television, Podcasts, and Movies division!”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 2020s2022/10/18

CLASS OF 2020 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

In April 2021, Lucine Poturyan was elected to serve as a representative on the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council (EHNC), following a successful six-month appointment to the local council. At the EHNC, Lucine is the chair of the Outreach and Youth & Education Committees, where she organizes local programs to benefit low-income youth and their families. In July 2021, Lucine began her new role as an assistant account executive at tech PR firm AxiCom. Excited for what comes next!

Dani Rodriguez was recently certified as a Connecticut firefighter, got engaged to long-time girlfriend Samantha Burr, and is getting married July 10, 2022. Major congrats to Dani and Samantha!

Since the last update, Esha Bhandari has been working as a care team assistant on the Neurology Inpatient Service at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She’ll start medical school in Philly come July 2022.

Anthony Price joined Dell Technologies as a corporate advisor of community impact. He’s working to close the digital divide in marginalized communities across the Midwest of the United States.

Less than a year ago Ben Lefkowitz became a board member for an organization called Kulanu (kulanu.org).

Nick Ticali is still working as an EMT with Northwell Health, where times have certainly become “stranger” thanks to the omicron variant. He plans to attend the New York Institute of Technology’s physician assistant program in September 2022. Other than focusing on his career, Nick is still participating in community theatre, volunteering with the local fire department, and spending a whole lot of time with his amazing new girlfriend.

Kush Patel started school at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston! It’s his first time living in a city; he’s heard nothing but good things about Boston and plus, so many Wes alum are in the area.

Check out Mitchell Flautt’s fractal artwork: @fractal_entheogens on Instagram.

Tyler Kobryn is now playing hockey for the Kalamazoo Wings.

Livia Wallick recently started a job at Wesleyan! She is now the assistant director of annual giving in the Office of Advancement and is so excited to be back at Wes!

From Grace Morenko: I’m currently living in Brooklyn (along with everyone else from Wesleyan) and completing an artist residency at SVA. I have also been knitting insatiably for my shop (check out gnits brooklyn!), studying sustainable material design at Parsons, and am going to start working for an industrial designer in March! Miss you all. 🙂

Big thanks to everyone who sent in their updates! I managed to make it through my first Chicago winter and was lucky enough to escape to the warmth of (you guessed it) Brooklyn for a bit to catch up with some of my fellow 2020s. It’s so great to see our class settling into post-grad life and our *new* normal. I hope that I’ll see you all soon at our long-awaited graduation!

Class Notes, Class Notes | 2010s2022/10/18

CLASS OF 2019 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Here are some updates from our peers:

Kati Young is a PhD student at Marquette University. She uses budding yeast to study Huntington’s Disease.

Kevin Le finished his master’s program at University of San Diego in health care management in December. He is walking in May and welcomes anyone to come through to San Diego to celebrate! He also finished a year at his current company Arena Pharmaceuticals.

This spring Rachel Williams is starting her second semester as a PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University in the modern languages and literatures department, with a focus in Spanish. At Hopkins she is once again sharing a department with Sophia Shoulson ’18, slowly launching a Wes takeover of campus. She is looking forward to exploring Baltimore more and meeting up with Wes friends up and down the Eastern seaboard—catch her on the Acela on any given weekend!

Rebecca Goldfarb Terry is currently living in Philadelphia with Ben Hornung ’18. She will be pursuing her nurse-midwife and nurse practitioner degrees at the University of Pennsylvania this fall. As they both formerly captained Wesleyan’s Throw Culture Frisbee team, Ben and Rebecca continue to play Frisbee together in the Philadelphia area.

Last fall, Wesley Villano moved to Kanab, Utah, to work as a field guide for Wingate Wilderness Therapy. His partner, Ainsley Kass ’20, also works there in the same position.

Special thanks to everyone who reached out with their life updates. Keep an eye out for my next email about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

Class Notes, Class Notes | 2010s2022/10/18

CLASS OF 2018 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Hey Class of 2018,

In fall 2021, Ryan Dobrin was one of the associate directors on the Broadway production Diana, The Musical, which he followed up with being one of the directing fellows at the Drama League. Congrats to Ryan!

Sending everyone peace and love,

Najwa