Author: klynch02

Dear readers,

I hope you and your families find yourselves safe and healthy during these tough times. While these are challenging times, I find beauty in how we’ve found ways to come together as a community. Part of what I loved most about my Wesleyan experience was exactly that—the community. That community does not go away after graduation, so I hope you are remaining connected, are using the values Wesleyan cultivated in us as a call to action, and are keeping the innovative and fierce Wesleyan spirit alive. I am an email or phone call away if you ever want to reach out.

Speaking of community, here is what the Class of 2014 has been up to:

Emily Mullaney is enrolled at Parsons in their industrial design program, and one of her studio partners is also a Wesleyan graduate. They recently won a grant from the Design for Aging Research Fund. Congrats, Emily!

Ellen Alexander received her PhD in geology from UCLA in March. She has since moved to Boulder, Colo., to begin a postdoctoral research fellowship at CU Boulder in order to work on the geology and petrology of the lower crust under the Colorado Plateau.

Joshua Krugman works for Bread and Puppet Theater, the 57-year-old political theater company based in Glover, Vt. He encourages fellow alumni to come up (post-COVID) to the beautiful Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to catch a summer show, and look out for B&P touring dates near you in the U.S., Europe, or Latin America. Contact Josh about bringing B&P to your school, synagogue, theater, or town square.

Jake Barack is wrapping up his doctorate in clinical psychology at The Chicago School and is heading towards his internship at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He also was commissioned as a captain in the Army and would prefer if his friend, Will Dubbs, would please stop saluting him.

In March, Ella Dawson joined the founding team of Meet Cute, a new entertainment startup, to run marketing, brand, and social media strategy. She is revising her first romance novel.

After six years in Brooklyn, Maureen Gorman and her husband, Aurélien, have moved to Paris, France. Maureen will attend INSEAD’s MBA program starting in the fall.

Jeremy Edelberg writes: “After 3.5 years, I’m still living and working in Hong Kong.  I just hit my two-year anniversary working for Myriad Asset Management, a Hong Kong-based, multi-strategy hedge fund. I hope that everyone is staying well, and I still welcome anyone coming through Asia to reach out once this virus subsides.”

Leah Khambata (who earned an MBA from Cornell in 2018) moved back to Mumbai in December from LA where she was acting in films and singing at concert venues such as the esteemed Hotel Cafe. She released seven original songs on Spotify/Apple Music last year, including an EP, and two music videos for her originals “Higher At Last” and “Something Still Here” (both directed by Wes graduates!) premiered on VH1India on Feb. 27. She recently performed an online concert for the Indian edition of one of the world’s greatest music/pop culture magazine, Rolling Stone, and is set to star in an Amazon Prime series. Instagram @Leahkhambata.

As for me, I graduated from Fordham University School of Law in May and look forward to this new chapter of life as an attorney! I always enjoy connecting with alumni and invite other Wesleyan attorneys to reach out to me and chat. Congrats to those who have graduated during these unexpected times! In other news, I’ve been taking advantage of this new downtime with plenty of Zoom video calls and book club sessions with Lauren Seo, Nicole Okai, Esthefany Castillo, Reina Barnswell, Lizzy Steiner, and Juliana McLain on top of the Netflix, wine, and cooking.

Be well and take care of each other.

Your Class Secretary,

Mary Diaz | mcdiaz@wesleyan.edu 

Anna Swartz and her wife, Netta, are quarantined with Anna’s parents in Massachusetts. They’re lucky enough to still have their jobs and be able to do them remotely. She hopes all her fellow Wes alumni, as well as faculty and campus staff, are similarly safe and well and able to stay home. She reminds everyone to tip their delivery people!

James “Jim” Curley and Maryalice Gill were married in Boston on Aug. 17, 2019. Many of his Wesleyan teammates and classmates were in attendance: Andrew McKeon, John Guay, Carmen Boscia, Matt Hadge, Derek Lukin, Nick Ferris, and Glenn Stowell. He said it was great to see everyone. Jim and Maryalice honeymooned in Italy, Croatia, and Greece. Being Game of Thrones superfans, they were able to visit the filming locations while in Croatia. Jim also completed his MBA at Boston University in May.

James Gardner made the transition from German corporate to the U.S. public sector in 2018, where he works for the Department of Veteran Affairs. His role is to oversee the VA hospital—the inpatient wards, emergency room, outpatient care, patient administration, and emergency management—outside of business hours. He finds himself surrounded by health care civilian and veteran employees who really care so much about the veterans coming through their doors. Especially with regard to the current pandemic, this dedication is terribly necessary.

Max Ward recently moved from Chicago back to his hometown of Portsmouth, N.H., where he’s now doing promotional videos for Gutermann, Inc.—a company specializing in selling leak detection equipment to water utilities. In his free time, he’s posting art on Instagram and helping write and illustrate a comic book that’s funded through Patreon. In his other free time, Max enjoys playing with his parents’ dog, Nash. He is a good boy!

Ben Smith is a video editor at Evidence Video, which produces documentaries to help attorneys build damages for clients whose lives have been catastrophically changed. Good stuff. He also continues to write, produce, and direct sketch comedy and short films. His film, Bump in the Night, will be hitting festivals around the country this fall.

Elisa Waugh has had a whirlwind year! A long cross-country drive with her boyfriend and dog rooted them back in her home state. They then decided to plan and throw a tiny wedding in a beautiful inn. Now there is a baby on the way and a house in the works! As the school year finishes, Elisa is looking forward to enjoying the bounty of Colorado and redirecting the energy usually used for her lively middle school students to a ferociously large garden.

In the fall, Evan Okun will attend the Yale School of Management in pursuit of his MBA. He hopes to expand his capacity to help nonprofits and social enterprises do courageous work. Evan also hosts weekly Zoom calls for anyone wanting to freestyle rap. Reach out!

As for me, I’m still in the Bay Area, working remotely for Apple. During shelter in place, I’ve picked up puzzling and also enjoy playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons with Sam Jacobson. I hope that all my classmates, their loved ones, and other readers stay safe and sane during this time.

Laura Yim | Lyim@wesleyan.edu 

Yael Chanoff works as an archival film researcher in San Francisco. The most recent documentary she worked on, Athlete A, will be available on Netflix this summer.

Tyler Wuthmann writes, “I’ve moved part-time up to Seattle from San Francisco to attend naturopathic medical school. I’m in my third year as a medical student here in Seattle at the School of Naturopathic Medicine at Bastyr University. It’s a four-year medical program where I will receive an ND degree and plan to get a residency down in the Bay Area once I graduate in 2021.” He is loving the program and adds, “I still make it down to San Francisco often to be with my fiancé, Mike (unfortunately not a Wesleyan alum, but I try not to hold it against him). We are planning our wedding in the Bay Area for the summer of 2021. I’m mostly seeing patients through telemedicine with attendings in our internal medicine clerkship due to social distancing while helping Seattle flatten the curve.”

Siena Kramer has relocated to Boston, where she will be working at Tufts Medical Center as a neurointensive care nurse.

Ruby Lin Ka Tung is based in Hong Kong, working at MoneyHero/CompareAsiaGroup as a country HR manager.

Jared Gimbel writes, “After becoming viral in Greenland as a result of a video series, I will release an early access version of my first video game, Kaverini: Nuuk Adventures, after multiple delays.” Jared is plotting the sequel, which will take place in a “completely different country.”

Julia Leonard is excited to move back to Connecticut to be an assistant professor of psychology at Yale starting summer 2021.

Thanks for the updates. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Greetings, Class of 2010!  Please enjoy the following notes from our classmates around the world:

Keisuke Yamashita and Ginger Patana started an omakase food tour business in Japan. “We take people to very top-notch restaurants people do not otherwise have access to. If anyone comes to visit Japan and wants to try amazing authentic food (sushi, tempura, Japanese western food, etc.), please DM us! Keisuke and Ginger’s business can be found at instagram.com/gastropolitan.tokyo.

Emily Sheehan reports: “In the little Philadelphia row home where I reside with my husband and daughter, I’ve been learning what a social 2-year-old enjoys when she needs to stay home and can’t play with friends, including a lot of tower-building and some drive-by-birthday celebrations. I’m grateful to work in the safety of my home, where I’ve been conducting therapy sessions through the magic of technology. (If anyone finds this to be a challenging time, there are plentiful therapists accepting new clients through telehealth, and many insurance companies are waiving copays, so it’s a good time to add mental health care into your routine.) I’m also enjoying video meetups with friends, including a huge group of fellow ’10 alumni. Grateful for the Wesleyan community in this bizarre time!”

Tony Zosherafatain hopes all of the Wes 2010 family is doing well and staying safe. Tony is still living in NYC (going on a decade now!), but is still a loyal Boston sports fan. He completed production of Trans in Trumpland, a forthcoming documentary about being transgender in the Trump administration era. The film follows four trans Americans living in North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Idaho. Keep a lookout for the film’s release around the fall/winter of this year! You can learn more about the film at transintrumpland.com. Tony looks forward to seeing everyone at our next Reunion!

Lauren Valentino finished her PhD in sociology at Duke University and has accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor of sociology at the Ohio State University, to begin this summer. “My research focuses on how Americans understand and make sense of social inequalities and social hierarchies—a topic I became interested in as a wee sociology major at Wes!”

Shannon Sun-Higginson and Andrew Murphy ’10, MA ’11 are social distancing at their home in Philadelphia with their cat, Professor Minerva McGonagall. Shannon is editing the sizzle for her third feature documentary, Losing Face, while working remotely as a producer and director for All Ages Productions. As a Democratic committeeperson, she works to find safe ways for Philadelphians to vote in the primary and general elections. Andrew received his PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in August 2019 and is now entering his final year of medical school, with plans to graduate in May 2021. He is taking clinical classes remotely while studying for his Step 2 exam, and continuing his research on neural networks, for which he was recently published in Science Communications. Since the pandemic has begun, Andrew and Shannon have attended a weekly video chat bad movie night with Gabriel Furtado, Yulhee Cho ’11, and Julien Burns. Their top recs are Jupiter Ascending, Little Italy, and Fateful Findings.

Niki Holtzman-Hayes graduated medical school at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and is headed to NYC with husband Nick Hayes ’09 for residency, where Niki matched into neurology.

A wonderful note from Dan Heinrich: Since graduating, Dan’s path has been largely shaped by Wes, his experiences, and the beautiful people he was lucky to call friends and mentors at Wes. After serving as a senior assistant dean of admission at Wes for four years, Dan finally left Middletown for warmer climes to work at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Lindsay Kokuna ’09 and Lindsay Kosasa ’13 welcomed him with much aloha. Graduate school called him back to New England, where he studied education policy and management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and got to share some laughs and treats with Jorge Delgado. Earning his Ed.M. in 2019, Dan zipped westward yet again to be part of a new and exciting mission-driven secondary school at UCLA, where student wellness and wellbeing are centered equally alongside academic prep and community engagement. In reflecting upon our 10-year Reunion, Dan is grateful to have cultivated lifelong friends at Wes and regularly connects with and sees the likes of LaShawn Springer ’08 and countless others (200 Church!) during his work and personal travels and via the Reading and Writing Rainbow group with Miles Tokunow, Chelsea Rodriguez, Genesis Grullon, and Lorena Estrella who continue to be anchors in his life.

Thanks to those who contributed and, as always, feel free to pass along notes anytime.

David Layne | dlayne@wesleyan.edu

 

Class of ’08—write to us and let us know how you’re doing!

Lynn Favin was accepted into eight different acting MFA programs all over America and the UK (including two full scholarships and stipend offers). She is currently in England, completing her MFA in professional acting with the Bristol Old Vic in England. She has renewed her contract with William Morris Endeavor and recently played Queen Margaret in Henry VI Part II on YouTube’s Shakespeare live stream The Show Must Go Online. For more acting credits and upcoming projects, visit lynnfavin.com.

Lyz Nardo writes, “Greetings from Long Island City…for now! We welcomed our second daughter, Sofia, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York. After social distancing for eight weeks in New York with my husband, my mother, a 1-year-old, a newborn, a cat, and a half-dozen Alexa devices, we are starting to pack up and countdown to our move to Livingston, N.J. Sadly, I will be far less likely to run into any Wes alumni on the streets of Livingston, but look forward to visits once social distancing relaxes a bit!”

Emily Palmer started a new job as a clinical director of palliative care at Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston last month and is fully deployed on COVID response. She postponed a planned summer wedding to 2021, but will still be getting legally married to her love, Daniel Schultz, in a tiny backyard wedding in July. She enjoys growing food in her community garden in Jamaica Plain and sending love and strength to the whole WesFam.

Benjamin Rowland writes, “In January I joined a startup, Hio, as head of partnerships. We provide virtual event solutions to small meetups and large conferences. Since COVID, all event organizers are transitioning to virtual, so it’s been fascinating to watch this new digital world evolve so fast.”

Brighid Gannon recently opened an online mental health service called Lavender to help increase New Yorkers’ access to psychiatric services remotely during the COVID-19 crisis. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and in addition to having recently launched Lavender, she owns a business providing mental health services to dozens of NY nursing homes, employing 12 other psychiatric nurse practitioners. Go to joinlavender.com for more information.

Alicia Collen Zeidan | acollen@wesleyan.edu

I hope that all my fellow Wesleyaners and ’07ers are staying safe and healthy during this trying time. That said, we have a few updates from our class:

Doug Rubenstein is living in New Jersey with his wife and 5-year-old son, and he is expecting a daughter in August! He is working as a recruiter at PayPal and working nights with the NBA in the Replay Center. He also co-founded a business in April called CHIP Professionals, which is a service matching people with financial professionals of color. Finally, he is also a panelist on The Grapevine on YouTube (175k subscribers). He also tries to sleep sometimes, but that comes far and few between.

Karen Oelschlaeger has accepted a position as the dedicated prosecutor for the Windsor County Unit for Special Investigations in Vermont. She has worked in the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office since 2016, and this role is a great opportunity to put her Master of Social Work (MSW) to use while collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team to investigate and hold people accountable for crimes against children, sexual assault, and other serious crimes such as human trafficking.

After three great years getting to know the Wesleyan Club in London, Johanna Goetzel is returning stateside in January 2021 with a baby in tow! She looks forward to getting to know the Philly-area alums and other new parents.

Tess Amodeo-Vickery is living in Rome, Italy, and had the strange experience of living the COVID-19 crisis two weeks ahead of her friends back in the U.S. She’s putting her classical civilization major to good work, running  the boutique travel company Clam Tours (clamtours.com), which offers private, educational tours of Rome, Naples, and Florence for curious travelers looking to go off the beaten path and experience Italy like a true local (Tess leads many of these tours herself, along with her Italian husband, Giovanni). She is working on a new album of original music, which is slotted for release in 2021.

Brian Dilks-Brotman finally saw Hamilton! It toured in Philly, and he caught it there back in September. That was, of course, before the pandemic. He and his wife, Jacqueline, are hanging in there, working from home, and going on the occasional walk. He still works as a staff representative for Communications Workers of America, Local 1036, where they represent about 7,000 employees of the state of New Jersey.

Abby Huber is happily working as a freelance translator (German-English, Spanish-English) based out of Providence, R.I., specializing in public health and environment.

Megan Harrington | megan.kretz@gmail.com

Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky | victoriapinsky@gmail.com

Hello, Class of 2006! At the time of this writing, I know we’re all going through various stressors considering the current climate, so I hope these notes will be a good palate cleanser.

Since so many of us are stuck indoors, you should consider picking up some books written by our fellow classmates. Sam Han is the author of (Inter)Facing Death: Life in Global Uncertainty, a work that analyzes the nexus of death and digital culture in the contemporary moment in the context of recent developments in social, cultural, and political theory. The book analyzes diverse phenomena, including the mourning of celebrity deaths and online suicide pacts. Sam currently works as a senior lecturer at the School of the Social Sciences/Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

For another interesting read, seek out The Race Card: From Gaming Technologies to Model Minorities by Tara Fickle. This work discusses how gaming and game theory has played a role in our understanding of racial identity and marginalization. Tara is an assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon and an affiliated faculty in ethnic studies, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, and the New Media and Culture Certificate program.

In January 2020, Jesse Young completed his master’s degree in international policy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. He works on climate change advocacy at the international nonprofit Oxfam America.

Daniel Dykes is very grateful for family as he quarantines with his parents and his sister’s family in Connecticut. He is working remotely as an investment funds associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s Manhattan office.

Jenevive Nykolak joined the faculty of California State University, Los Angeles, as an assistant professor of modern and contemporary art history this past fall. After a brief stint in San Francisco, she is very happy to be in LA!

Kristy Elliott graduated grad school from Sacred Heart University. She earned her master of education and certification simultaneously and now teaches computer science and technology.

In the fall, Mel McCrea will start work on her master’s degree in counseling psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is open to housing leads, odd jobs, and dating setups (women, nonbinary, and genderqueer) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alex Pfeiffer Reynolds successfully manages to stay connected with her classmates. She’s had happy hour Zoom calls with Adam Maxwell in Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Anthony Gray in Minneapolis, Minn.; Mike Walsh in Palm Springs; Morgan Blum in Boston; Matt Smith ’06, MALS ’11 and Reid Jewett Smith in Vermont; and Jordan Funt in Florida. These happy hours have helped them share many laughs and memories.

Alex Altman is celebrating the launch of her private therapy practice, Alex Altman Therapy LLC, in Bethesda, Maryland. Congratulations to Alex as she also celebrates her recent engagement to her fiancé, Nicholas Sherman.

Rachel Berger is living in Brooklyn with her husband, Ari Jankelowitz, and two children, Colin and Sadie. In October 2019, she became the director of nutrition at the NYC Department for the Aging.

Congratulations to Eleanor Rodriguez (formerly Eleanor Conger-Milnes), who had her son, Cosme Jeremias Rodriguez, on April 12. She and her husband, Jesus Rodriguez, are delighted with Cosme, who weighed an impressive 10 pounds, three ounces. She is eternally grateful to Emily Mulqueen, who has been an amazing support into motherhood.

Sophie Karp and Evan Katin-Borland, along with 3-year-old Lucy, welcomed Clara May Borland in January. Despite the current lockdown in Brooklyn, they are grateful to have their health and each other.

Emily Frost and Nick Bullard welcomed Phoebe Frost Bullard into the world in June 2019—perfect timing to join Wesleyan class of 2041 alongside Neva Peck, daughter of Shaine Truscott and Stacy Peck. Shaine currently works for the health care workers union SEIU in Seattle. Emily, Nick, Phoebe, and Phoebe’s older brother Henry (4 years old) moved to Concord, Mass. over the winter. Emily works as a producer for the podcast company Wondery. Nick continues to do strategy work for Deloitte.

Alexandra Loh is happy to have it all! In 2019, she and her husband welcomed baby Evelyn into the world. And in 2020, they purchased a beautiful house that they’ve made into a happy home.

I hope you are all staying safe and sane in these times!

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com

Ben Shestakofsky and Isheh Beck welcomed baby Milo into their family in January. They will be moving to Philadelphia this summer. Ben teaches sociology at Penn, and Isheh will be opening a private practice in clinical psychology.

Cathy Pyenson and Jonathan McKinney ’04 gave birth to Hudson Avery McKinney in April! He has been sporting his Wesleyan onesie thanks to Molly Greenberg, and his first (distanced) visitors included Molly and Ellie Terry.

A week after local shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Alexander Rich became a partner at Carter Momsen PC, a five-attorney law firm located in Mendocino County, Calif. His practice focuses on estate planning and administration, as well as general civil litigation. Alexander has also been mentoring two boys in a program for students who will be the first in their families to go to college. After five years in the program, his boys are now on the verge of graduating from high school, though given the current state of the world, it is hard to say what their experience will be like this fall.

In May, Nathan Victoria became the inaugural executive director and CEO for the Society for Personality Assessment, a nonprofit focused on advancing the theory, research, and applied practice of personality assessment. Many thanks to his Wes colleagues Alexis May, and Amy ’07 and Kevin Egolf for their insight into making this leap outside of higher ed and student affairs!

Maggie and Eli Brown ’04 had their third baby, a boy, in June. They have a 6-year-old son, Sebastian, and a 3-year-old daughter, Simone, already. They live in Nyack, N.Y. Eli is an ER doctor in the local hospital, Nyack Montefiore. Maggie is an assistant principal at a K-2 elementary school in a nearby district. They send their love to all.

Katie Walsh is living and working in Highland Park, Los Angeles, where she is a film critic for the Tribune News Service and LA Times. She contributes to Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, as well as other publications, and can be heard on KCRW’s Press Play, and on the Maximum Fun podcast, Switchblade Sisters. She also teaches a class, Practices of Writing About Film, at Chapman University in Orange County.

During the hand sanitizer shortage in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, Sivan Cotel ’05, MA ’06 coordinated a coalition of three distilleries, a kombucha company, and the University of Vermont Health Network (of which he is a board trustee) to produce thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer. Working with Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s office, the Health Network was able to distribute sanitizer to hospitals and first responders all around Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northern New York.

Todd and Adam Stone are excited to share that their web series Going Both Ways has received laurels from five different festivals and competitions! They are very proud of them and could not have created Going Both Ways without the support of their network (GoingBothWaysShow.com).

I have to share the sad news that one of our classmates, Andrew Stuerzel, passed away suddenly in April. Andrew worked at Wesleyan for 10 years in various positions in admission, the advancement office, and University Relations. It’s always heartbreaking to hear of a classmate who passed away too soon. Give your loved ones an extra hug today and let us support one another in whatever ways we can.

Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com

Hi, everyone—We hope this round of class notes finds you safe and healthy during this challenging time. That said, we are happy to hear that ’04 continues to have positive updates to share. Some highlights include:

Ashley Elia Weller is living in Columbus, Ohio, and works part-time as a per diem veterinarian for the past year-and-a-half and loving it. She writes, “Since the pandemic hit, I have become a full-time stay-at-home mom to our 4-year-old and almost 2-year-old as a result of our daycare closing. Quarantine with two young kids has been nothing short of busy! We feel very fortunate to be home and safe and healthy. We are sending love and healthy wishes to all our Wes friends and family all over the country.”

Jessie Silbert tells us that two years ago she moved from New York where she was working as a fashion designer since graduation to Portland, Ore. “I will be receiving my master’s degree in sports product design from the University of Oregon this June (on Zoom)!”

Meanwhile, Michael Aylward tells his: “I’ve been living in San Francisco for almost seven years now, though it’s gone by fast. Working on partnerships at an internet security company (Cloudflare) in an exciting period of growth, and with a lovely culture. And working on climate and energy politics in my own time (as I used to do full-time). Looking forward to being able to see friends and Wes folks when we can all get together again.”

Also sharing some exciting news, Jenna Flateman Posner: “My family and I are still in the Philadelphia area. We just celebrated, on Zoom, the first birthday of our third son Ezra.” The celebration of Ezra is a special one, as Jenna and her wife, Saburah Flateman Posner, call him their “rainbow baby.” He joins his twin brothers, Judah and Levi. Saburah tells us: “Another thing that’s super special about Ezra’s birth is that I carried the twins (genetically mine), but Ezra, on the other hand, came from Jenna’s egg and I had the privilege of carrying him, as well!” Kudos to the happy, growing family!

On the work front, Jenna also tells us: “I’ve just passed the year mark as VP of digital for Snipes (snipesusa.com), a global streetwear company based in Europe expanding quickly to the U.S. While I’m managing a digital practice through this interesting retail climate, I’m also managing a construction crew through a house build. It’s been a rough process, but at least we’re staying busy, safe, and relatively sane through this pandemic. I hope all are well.”

Amy Meyerson was promoted to associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Writing Program. Her new novel, The Imperfects, was published on May 5 by HarperCollins/Park Row Books. She also welcomed her first son in October.

We also heard that Colin Bumby is joining Kramer Levin’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity practices as a partner in New York. He’s joining from McGuireWoods LLP, where he was a partner.

We’ve also learned that Florida business law firm, Berger Singerman, is pleased to announce that Andrew Zelman, partner and member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team, has been recognized as a 2019 South Florida Business Journal 40 Under 40 award honoree. He was presented with the award at a luncheon last August at Jungle Island in Miami.

That’s about it for this round. Wishing you all the best during this time.

Jenina Nuñez | jenina.nunez@outlook.com

Meeghan Whooley Ward | meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com

Jacob A. Bennett recently earned his PhD in higher education leadership and policy studies from the University of New Hampshire. The next steps are unclear given the uncertainty at most colleges and universities these days, but Jacob and his wife, Charlotte, are happily awaiting the arrival of their third daughter due to join big sisters Eloise (4) and Ruby (2) in September.

George Obulutsa is still going strong in Nairobi, Kenya, where he is working as a journalist for Thomson Reuters News.

Larisa Buck is a hospitalist in San Antonio at UT Health. Her husband, Shannon, is a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon in the U.S. Air Force. Last fall, Larisa finally took Shannon to see Wesleyan, which was fun to see after all these years and was a little different than his alma mater—the United States Air Force Academy! The best part of the trip was catching up with great friends and fellow Wesleyan alumni Christopher and Austin Walsh, Rob Mitchell ’06, and Katy and Robbie Botta ’05.

Christopher Walsh and Austin Horne Walsh welcomed a baby girl, Cora Belle Walsh, on May Day! Cora was born on her late grandfather’s birthday, bringing lots of happiness to everyone amidst the pandemic.

Bayard Templeton is finishing his 17th year of teaching, having spent the last 13 years teaching middle school history and health and wellness, as well as coaching at Germantown Academy in the Philadelphia suburbs. He has served as the head advisor for three different classes as they cycle through the middle school. He was featured as part of the cover story in the spring 2020 issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine about utilizing young adult versions of history texts in middle school classrooms.

John Graham and family are weathering pandemic times in Tbilisi, Georgia. The cultural-tourism sector has collapsed in the short term, so John is focused on promoting unique private tour opportunities in the Caucasus and Ethiopia regions beginning in 2021. Meanwhile, he spends more time with two growing kids and with his academic publishing projects.

Ryan Garbalosa was elected as the chief of medicine for Tuomey Hospital in Sumter, S.C.  He was also named the Best Cardiologist in Sumter County for 2020 in the annual Best of Sumter awards hosted by the Sumter Item, recognizing professionals in the area. He continues to serve as the medical director of the cardiac rehabilitation and echocardiography departments at McLeod Clarendon Hospital.

Amy Tannenbaum Gottlieb | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu