Xavier L. Rozas ’98 recently completed a six-month, 28,000-mile motorcycle journey from New York to Ushuaia, the southernmost town in Argentina, ending his two-wheeled adventure in Rio de Janeiro. A volunteer firefighter and founder of Call To Fire, a not-for-profit benefiting under-resourced firefighters in Latin America, he visited firehouses in all 16 countries on his goodwill mission. In addition to Call To Fire’s fundraising and community awareness efforts, Rozas maintained an interactive travelogue with second-grade classes in New York and Boston. Back in New England, Rozas has continued his efforts for Call To Fire, in addition to working with English-as-second-language students in Boston. (For further information, please see www.CalltoFire.com).
Jeffrey L. Shames ’77 was appointed to the Berklee College of Music board of trustees. A resident of Newton, Shames is the retired chairman of MFS Investment Management and the board of trustees of the MFS Funds. He is an avid jazz enthusiast. “I’m very excited to be part of Berklee,” said Shames. “From my days as a jazz DJ at Wesleyan, I’ve always looked for ways to be involved with music. I look forward to putting my energy into engaging Bostonians who benefit the arts to come on board and support Berklee.”
THEODORE M. SHAW ’76 was named to the Phyllis W. Beck Chair in Law at Temple University, a position created in 1997 in honor of Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Phyllis W. Beck. “Ted Shaw and Judge Beck both dedicated their careers to advancing equal justice under the law, making Ted an ideal candidate for the chair,” said Robert J. Reinstein, dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Shaw earned his law degree from Columbia University School of Law and is associate director and counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. In the challenge to affirmative action before the U.S. Supreme Court, Shaw represents 17 minority high-school students granted defendant status in the case against the University of Michigan. He also serves as senior vice chair of the board of trustees at Wesleyan.
Sandra Silvestre MALS ’77 was honored with a Teaching Award in Filmmaking by the North Carolina School of the Arts. A secondary school library media specialist and instructor of video journalism, TV production, and international film for the International Baccalaureate Program at Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield, Va., Silvestre calls herself “an ordinary teacher who teaches extraordinary students.”
ORIN SNYDER ’83 was selected as one of The American Lawyer magazine’s “45 Under 45.” A partner with New York’s Parcher, Hayes & Snyder, he competed with more than 600 candidates for a spot on the list, which also includes Amy Schulman ’82. Snyder, who received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, represents clients including Julie Andrews, Ozzy Osbourne, and AOL Time Warner’s Home Box Office unit. He previously worked for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and then moved on to the U.S. attorney’s office in New York, where he became the chief of the narcotics division at age 30. He decided to join Parcher, Hayes because “representing entertainment clients sounded a lot more interesting than representing insurance companies.”
Robert Soiffer ’79, M.D., was selected as the new vice president of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, a national association of professionals who support advancements in this field. This appointment puts Soiffer next in line to assume the presidency of ASBMT in two years. Soiffer is currently the chief of hematologic malignancies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and co-director of bone marrow transplantation at Dana Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A biology major as an undergraduate, he received his medical degree from New York University.
Christopher Swain ’90 was featured on CNN.com when he reached the Pacific Ocean on July 1, 2003, completing his 1,243-mile swim of the Columbia River. Swain, a self-described “advocacy swimmer,” first attracted notice for his 1996 Connecticut River Swim for Universal Human Rights. “Professors like Joyce Lowrie, Richard Slotkin, George Creeger, and Jeanine Basinger convinced me that it was worth putting my life on the line for the greater good,” he says. Swain, who began this journey on June 4, 2002, braved such extreme conditions as 38-degree F water-temperatures as well as bacterial, chemical, and radioactive pollutants. He is the first person in history to swim the entire length of the Columbia, and observes that clean water is not only an environmental issue, but a human rights issue, as well. For his efforts, he also received the International Earth Day Award from the United Nations.
Suzanna Tamminen ’90, MALS ’94 was named director of the Wesleyan University Press. With 15 years of experience in scholarly publishing, most recently as the Press’s associate director and editor-in-chief from 1997 to 2004, she was the interim director since last summer. Her recent notable acquisitions include last year’s National Book Award winner in poetry, Door in the Mountain, by Jean Valentine. “I like being in a job that allows me to see a project from the first kernel of an idea to the finished project,” she says. “It’s really the whole process I enjoy—and it’s never the same. Each book finds its way into the world differently. It’s a process that requires critical thinking at every step.”
James E. Udelson ’77, M.D., F.A.C.C., was installed as a member of the board of the American College of Cardiology during its annual meeting, held in March. As a teacher, Udelson was recognized with the Tufts University School of Medicine Excellence in Teaching Award three years in a row, chosen by his students. He serves as associate chief of the Division of Cardiology and director of the Nuclear Cardiology Laboratory for Tufts-New England Medical Center Hospitals. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College, and he currently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Dr. Lori Verderame MALS ’89, a museum curator and certified art and antiques appraiser, discovered a lamp worth half a million dollars on her popular show What’s it Worth? on ABC. Verderame is the director of the fine art resource www.DrLoriV.com and of Masterpiece Galleries. Previously she taught art history at the Pennsylvania State University, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Yale University Art Gallery. She is currently on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University
