Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Hillary writes for this issue.

Lisa Renery reports that she recently left Ancestry.com for a design research role at UBER’s San Francisco headquarters. She is one of two other Wes alums on her team (Jenny Lo ’10 and Hilary Hoeber ’96). Lisa’s been having fun commemorating/commiserating with classmates Rick Stein, Paulette Taylor and Brad Kramer about their (our!?) milestone birthdays.

Laura Wiessen writes in for the first time(!), sharing that after years of being a news and documentary producer in New York and Chicago (with a stint in Jerusalem), she married in 2008 and is living in Gloucester, Mass., with her husband and two girls. Laura says this move is quite a change from her urban lifestyle, and wants you to let her know if you’re in Gloucester.

Majora Carter’s company, StartupBox, and Birch Coffee will open a new café in the South Bronx. StartupBox also acquired a historic rail station and plans to transform it into a restaurant incubator. Majora says “both of these projects are part of my theory about self-gentrification, i.e., the creation of great economic development projects, by and for the people currently living in low-status communities, before they get traditionally gentrified, builds resistance to brain drain because the smart, hardworking people born and raised in those communities (the ones like me, who were taught to measure success by how far they get away from their hometowns) will want to re-invest in their own communities instead of fleeing as soon as they can.”

Andrea Gural has been busy “managing life and general chaos with four boys.” She recently switched jobs and is now working as director of Budget and Analysis at NYU Global Programs, which is NYU’s study-away program. She had been looking for a move to nonprofits and education, and says this is a good fit with her global work experience.

Rob Wilder’s first novel, Nickel, will be published by Leaf Storm Press in September. Author Augusten Burroughs states that “no one has ever written about the pains of being a teenager—physically and psychologically, inside and out—quite like Robert Wilder in his startling debut novel. He has created indelible characters in Monroe and Coy—funny and sad and strong and broken—and Nickel is about as real as it gets.”

Christina Pugh received a 2015–16 Guggenheim fellowship in poetry, and has two poetry books in the works: Perception and Stardust. She will share more info with us when the books are available.

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

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Damn. When Michele shakes the tree, she shakes it hard. We even got a few first timers, so we’ll lead with those.

Amy Berk has reinvested in her home in San Francisco, where her two kids attend Creative Arts Charter School. She is starting a new venture to help recenter and reset creativity: reapprojects.com. She sometimes sees Michelle Matz and recently reconnected with David Auerbach.

In Portland, Ore., Michael Aiello is finishing a visiting artist show at the Blackfish Gallery. He presented six pieces from work sponsored by a grant from his Regional Arts & Culture Council called “Our Fates Are Connected.” Michael is now creatively transitioning back to songwriting. In June, he will be in Northern New Mexico, humbly listening for the words that are hidden in the tunes, and is grateful to his daughter and love for the opportunity….

Dina Goldman has been a production designer for film and television (primarily) in NYC for almost 20 years. Her current project is an independent feature based on the life of J.D. Salinger, turning the city streets back to the way they looked in the ’40s and ’50s. When not working, she’s enjoying life with her husband and 9-year-old son in the West Village.

Allison Downer is now the associate executive director of the Department of Psychiatry at Rikers Island, where she provides psychiatric services for the country’s first specialized jail for 18–21 year olds. She was encouraged to reach out because of all the “cool people” who are sharing their good deeds.

Hope Ring is still a family doctor, still happily married, with daughters now 11 and 17, who are far more passionate about social justice than Hope was at their age. With the prodding of Jeanne Kramer-Smythe ’90, Hope is now an associative member of SFWA, writing under Hope Erica Schultz.

Congratulations to James Eli Shiffer who just had his first book, The King of Skid Row, published by The University of Minnesota Press. He completed this account of the seamy history of his adopted hometown of Minneapolis while keeping his day job as an editor and columnist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a co-historian with his wife, Kirsten Delegard ’90, the creator of the Historyapolis community history project. Last year, he joined Paul Rooney, David Williams, and many other Argus alumni advocating for free speech at Wesleyan and against efforts to defund the Argus.

After 10 years at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Phineas Baxandall moved on to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a think-tank that focuses on helping people with low and moderate incomes. Phineas will be working with campaigns to pass a ballot initiative that would raise taxes on incomes over a million dollars to fund education and transportation. He recently visited Cuba with his long-time partner, Sarah Hill, and his children. Son, Julian (16), just started an ultimate frisbee team at his high school in Cambridge, Mass. In January, several Wesleyan alumni attended a memorial service for Phineas’s mother, including Stephanie Dolgoff, Elizabeth Schmidt, Robert Featherstone, John Stamm, and Eric Lotke ’87.

The paperback edition of Alex Chee’s new novel, The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is coming out this January, along with a new edition of his first novel Edinburgh. He also will have an essay in this fall’s Best American Essays 2016, and has two upcoming visiting writer gigs: at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the fall, and then at the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA in the spring. He recently saw Janine Mileaf, who runs the Chicago Arts Club.

In April, Adam Rohdie, Andrew Lacey and Mike Charlton, and their spouses all attended JazzFest in NOLA. While the music and food were outstanding, part of Saturday’s show was rained out. Somehow they persevered, finding their way to the French Quarter and enjoying themselves despite the weather.

John Hlinko is living in Washington, D.C., doing his best to save America from Trump (and itself) by running Left Action, a two-million-strong national progressive activist community. His wife, Leigh Stringer, is about to release her second book, The Healthy Workplace, which he will shamelessly plug on Facebook, via e-mail, and in Wesleyan class notes. John is about to move to a house that was built in the 1850s as a church, which might be the first time he’s been in one in decades.

Laura Safran Shepard and her husband, Drew Shepard, are on the move after relocating back to Connecticut from Thailand in 2014. Colgate-Palmolive has tapped Drew to manage Western Europe, starting next month, and they will be moving to Paris. Despite not knowing a single word of French, they are very excited. They will miss their daughter who is headed off to college, but they know she’ll be super happy at school.

If anyone has plans to visit Toronto, they should look up Marisa Cohen, who is tagging along as her 13-year-old daughter, Molly, plays Alice in the Canadian premiere of Matilda the Musical. You can most likely find Marisa in a coffee shop trying to keep up her freelance magazine/web writing career while sampling Canadian delicacies like Labatt’s, Smarties, and ketchup crisps. Her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Bellam, are staying in New York, but will make lots of border crossings to visit. Depending on how the election goes, they may just stay up north. (Kidding—sort of.)

After 18 years as an academic librarian at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Michigan, Susan Turkel is going freelance! She’s researching, editing, and doing a little Web design for faculty and others. Check her out at susanturkel.com. When not working, she’s usually found at a contra dance.

Finally, congratulations to Ed Thorndike, whose restaurant, WesWings, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big party at Beckham Hall with about 400 guests, including the senior class.

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

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Hi all. Here’s what we have:

Jeanie Tung reconnected with Marisa Cohen ’89, “first on Facebook of course, then we found out our daughters attended the same school and that both had a love for music/violin!”

Jennifer Teitelbaum Palmer has been made a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, due in part to her work for the Maryland Psychiatric Society as the chair of the legislative committee and as a member of the council and executive committee. Jennifer, the MPS president-elect, will be president in April 2017.

Alexis Neaman Roberts and her husband, Chris Roberts ’89, are living in Austin, Texas, with their three daughters, Beatrix, Willa, and India. Chris is working as the director of communications at the University of Texas School of Law and Alexis spends her time driving her kids around Austin and “working on secret plans to turn Texas blue for the next election.”

Ben Robertson is “working as an independent consultant with recent engagements in nonprofit, Internet of things, cybersecurity, and enterprise search.” People who want to learn more about him (for example, his work as an actor and a writer) can do so at menadena.com and benrobertson.net. Ben noted how great it was to see classmates at our last Reunion. He writes that Ethan Garber and his brother recently visited him at his home in Keene, N.H. “They stayed the night and Ethan slept on the floor (I only have one guest bed), and I made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, while we watched a documentary about cartels in Mexico, a place where Ethan’s company is doing business. Ethan bought an environmental company called Idle Air. of which he is now CEO. Ethan and I were also partners in crime at the Reunion, and ended up sleeping in his car behind a Walmart, unable to find a hotel. So the college adventures continue, even as we approach 50. I never would have expected any of this and look forward to seeing what happens next.”

Stephanie Donohue Pilla lives in Harlem, NYC, with her husband and 8-year-old daughter. She is the development manager at Maysles Documentary Center where Hellura Lyle ’89 has been a guest curator and Bobbito Garcia ’88 has presented his films. In April, Stephanie saw Kati Koerner at the Face to Face Arts in Education Conference that she was co-chairing. Stephanie’s daughter attends Manhattan Country School, “which not only feels like a mini-Wesleyan (super diverse, social justice curriculum), but also has a number of Wes parents and teachers. She also keeps fit with Linda Turnbull ’90 every week at a barre class!”

Jeffrey Needelman writes with the show-stopping news that he has become a grandparent. I’m not sure if he’s the first in our class to do so, but he’s certainly the first one of which I have heard. He is grateful to be able to share with the Wesleyan community the happy news that on April 3, 2016, his daughter, Ona Sofia, “gave birth to my first grandson, Shilo Nana Kwasi Ansuh.”

Andy Siff’s daughter, who was just two months when she joined him and the rest of his family at our 25th Reunion, is now 14 months. “She and big brother Zeke (5) are big Wesleyan fans. I’m still at WNBC-TV (after 12 years!) and my wife, Dawn, is working in marketing at Google.”

Eric Berg ’93 is teaching English as a Second Language and living in Boston. “I got my B.A. from Northeastern in English Lit in 1994, and my M.A. in English Lit from the University of Virginia in 2009. I have been studying languages at the Harvard extension school for the past nine years, and am trying to get in shape to start rowing on the water again (which I did at Wesleyan and Harvard). I also taught sculling at the Weld Boathouse at Harvard for two summers from 1990–1991.”

Finally, Lisa Shactman Grissom wrote and produced the short film Tattoo You (tattooyouthefilm.com) based upon her award-winning one act play. Shot entirely in a high school bathroom, the film centers on an encounter between two women that reveals the indelible marks left by their shared past. Tattoo You explores the impact of bullying on adulthood and is resonating with film festival audiences, winning awards at The Berkshire International Film Festival and Dances With Films. Lisa would love to see some of you on the festival circuit! She can be reached at grissom.lisa@gmail.com.

That’s all for now. I hope you have all been enjoying the summer. You will be hearing from me again at year’s end.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

What a fabulous 25th Reunion! Congratulations to the co-chairs, Jeremy Sacks and Christine Pina, as well as all the members of the committee. And hats off to the phenomenal, spontaneous memory explosion on Facebook. The photos and the videos…whew. I’m serious when I say we need a class archivist to collect, collate and preserve!

I also want to pick up on Sam Schneider’s lovely thoughts from the Class Memorial, and Sam, forgive me if I butcher the words, but the sentiment is to start new memories, new conversations, with people you might not have known on campus, but might want to know now. Our classmates are doing amazing things, from teaching GED courses to pushing the Senate to action, to writing the book you want to read this summer. So take a gander at what we’re up to, and reach out to that person!

Debby Popkin’s midwifery group, Birth & Beyond, won first place for Best Midwives in Hartford County in the CTNow readers’ poll this year.

Joshua Samuels is a pediatric nephrologist and hypertension specialist at University of Texas McGovern Medical School at Houston. In 2015, he was promoted to professor of pediatrics and medicine, elected to the Academy of Master Educators, and received the Dean’s Teaching Award.

Jenny Tucker is the second in command at the National Organic Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, overseeing the use of the USDA organic seal on food across the U.S. and around the world: “it is a wonderfully complex job that I love.” On the side, Jenny volunteers as the executive director of the nonprofit FOSS Institute, which Jenny’s father, Allen Brown Tucker ’63, and she founded in 2013. FOSS, or Free and Open Source Software, seeks to bring together computer science students, nonprofits, and software professionals to build sustainable software tools that support the nonprofit’s mission, while also giving the students real-world software development experience.

Todd Denmark, who has lived in Kansas for eight years, just bought a house with his partner in Shawnee. Todd worked for the Department of Homeland Security for six years and then switched to the National Benefit Center in June 2014. He moved to the Records Division in March 2016.

Suki Hawley announces her production company’s new film, Who Took Johnny, a documentary about the first missing child pictured on a milk carton, Johnny Gosch, and his mother’s relentless search for what happened to him. Catch it on Amazon, iTunes, and Netflix. John Waters called it “an amazing, lunatic documentary that will leave you creeped out, excited, and surprised.”

Brett Hardin lives in Atlanta with his family, (kids ages 8, 10, and 15) and will be the new Head of High School at Paideia, a progressive pre-K through 12th-grade school. “We tend to send at least one student a year to Wesleyan.”

Kristin Sandvik Lush reports from The Land of the Long White Cloud, where her couch awaits visits from Wesleyan friends. Last year she had lunch with Bobbito aka Cool Bob Love aka Bobby Nice aka Robert Garcia ’88, who was performing in Auckland. Kristin teaches ESOL, and stays busy with projects and family responsibilities (husband’s elderly parents and home-educated kids ages 9 and 11). She’s looking forward to a visit to the Pacific NW at the end of 2016 and a PDX Wes mini-union.

In January 2016, Tara Magner was named the director of the Chicago program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago. Since 1978, MacArthur has invested nearly $1.1 billion in Chicago. Grants have supported more than 1,300 organizations and individuals in the region, including awards to arts and culture groups, and programs in housing, community economic development, immigration, anti-violence, and education, among others. Prior to this new role, she was a senior program officer at MacArthur, making grants related to immigration and refugee policy. Tara joined MacArthur in 2012 after many years with the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in D.C. She lives in the Chicago with her husband, Scott Hibbard, a political science professor.

Michael and Sarah Lewis Chaskes are in Los Angeles, where they continue to edit reality TV and teach sixth grade, respectively. They and their two teenage daughters try not to miss any opportunities to visit with the family of Ben and Liz Beckenbach Leavy in Sacramento.

George Irvine is the relatively new director of corporate programs and partnerships at the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics. He builds knowledge partnerships with companies, organizations, and the state to help them meet hiring, employee development and business research needs. He’s also working toward a PhD in urban affairs and public policy with a research focus on the past, present, and future publicness of American research universities.

Wendy Bellion, associate professor of American art history at the University of Delaware, is finishing her second art history book, exploring iconoclasm in New York City before and during the American Revolution. George and Wendy have two sons: Luke, 12 is approaching a Tang Soo Do black belt, and Griffin, 7, excels at baseball.

Lizandra Vega lives in Westchester and is an executive recruiter in Manhattan, placing VP-C-Suite executives in the beauty, fashion, luxury sectors. She was “thrilled to see friends on campus and share her experience with son, Christian (7), daughter Julianna (15), and husband Steve Brown.“

Michael Reinke serves as the executive director of the Inter-Faith Council and works towards ending hunger in Orange County. On the side, he’s trying to master the banjo. He lives in Durham, N.C.,

Rory Kerber Bernstein is a project manager at the Simons Foundation, a nonprofit providing funding for basic math and science research. Rory oversees the process of redesigning two websites.

After many years as a classroom teacher, Cameron Gearen has become an essay coach, working for Partners for Achievement in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., helping kids get into the colleges of their dreams. She also posts a twice-yearly reading list of favorite books, just in time for summer.

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

Greetings and salutations from D.C. Michele and I are enjoying the beginning of summer and continue to plan for a two-week vacation in Yellowstone. You’ll have to come to our 25th Reunion to learn more! It’s only a year away… and it’s a biggie. I know some of you pooh-poohed the 15th and 20th anniversary, but no excuses. You’re expected to attend, so brush up on the info below in case you are quizzed.

Heather Nash continues to lead a double life—clinical psychologist by day and poet by night. She recently published her second book of poetry, Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, 2016) under her middle name Claudine Nash.

Darcy Dennett’s documentary about the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring, The Champions, is still screening around the country and is now available on Bluray/DVD, iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix. The film was invited to Michael Moore’s film festival, The Traverse City Film Festival, and was recently screened at 20th Century Fox.

Joan Matelli is off to Europe and North Africa for three months starting in August. Give her a ring if you have a major itch to do some traveling.

Shura Pollatsek has big new that her first book, Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design from Routledge/Focal Press, is being released in August 2016. She writes, “The book is written for a genåeral audience and also for costume students and professionals. It features the photography of Mitchell D. Wilson, winner of many awards including National Press Photographer of the Year, Peabody and National Primetime Emmy. Unbuttoned explores the creative collaboration between costume designers and costume makers in all aspects of the process from sketch to stage, and features interviews with leading professionals in New York, Paris and Santa Fe.”

Susan Hunt Stevens is living in Newton, Mass/, where she guides WeSpire, the technology company she founded five years ago. WeSpire was honored recently to be named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year for New England.

Grant Brenner, assistant clinical professor, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, was recently honored as the first recipient of the Ivan Goldberg Outstanding Service Award presented by the New York District County Branch of the American Psychiatric Association.

Since 2003, Maurice Harris has been a congregational rabbi and a writer in Eugene, Ore. He and his wife, Melissa Crabbe, and their two kids are now getting ready to move to Philadelphia, where he’ll begin working at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He is working on his third book, following Moses: A Stranger Among Us (Cascade 2012) and Leviticus: You Have No Idea (Cascade 2013).

Speaking of Philly, Sam Robinson continues to live in Philly with his wife, Shari Hersh, and their 12-year-old daughter, Bella. Shari plans innovative, community engaged, public art projects and Bella keeps them both busy with all her sports, friends, violin lessons, etc! Sam started his own architecture firm five years ago. He does mostly residential renovations in and around the city.

Jonathan Bell co-founded DUAL, a new architecture office in Providence. DUAL’s focus has been on small, complex projects and creative reuse of underused buildings. The firm’s current work includes the adaptive reuse of a 19th-century brewery into a theater and artist-focused community; and a new 3-screen art cinema, which is in the planning stages.

Sarah Leavitt continues to stalk me around DC. House parties, book signings, dropping our kids off for summer camp—you name it. She seems to be everywhere I go now. I missed her at the Paul Simon concert but it looks like she had fun and I’m jealous.

Jody Sperling, artistic director of Time Lapse Dance, launched an Indiegogo campaign for her project “Bringing the Arctic Home.” Last spring, Jody got to dance on Arctic sea ice while serving as choreographer-in-residence aboard the icebreaker USCGC Healy. The experience was the inspiration for Ice Cycle (Phase I), a dance expressing the dynamism and fragility of the Arctic icescape performed at JCC Manhattan, June 20–21.

Check out Tim Ellis’s music/comedy video Casual Pimpin’, a smooth jam about men’s summer fashion! (With hot new remix!) Shot mostly in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. You can find it on youtu.be/PyGaeMp5_F4.

Have a great summer and fall and we’ll see you next year for Reunion.

ADAM BERINSKY | berinsky@mit.edu

PAUL COVIELLO | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

Sue writes: Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. As you have probably heard, this has been an exciting summer for Wesleyan alumni everywhere with Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 clinching a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize for his newest hit, Hamilton. While I haven’t yet been able to get a ticket (which is a testimony to the success of this show), it is indeed exciting for Wes alumni and particularly for the class of 2002.

Sarah and I have some exciting updates—trips around the world, new jobs, mini-Wes reunions, and a few marathons. If you haven’t sent an update lately, please write soon. It’s always fun hearing from a fellow Cardinal. And now, without further ado, here is the news from our neck of the woods.

Aaron Barr writes: “My wife and I are now back in Seattle after finishing out a 15-month, 18-country trip around the world, where we met and worked with indigenous artists in as many countries as we could. We documented the whole experience at NoMapRequired.com and continue to add to the site as a local blog. Slowly getting used to being back in the US again and staying in one place for more than a month. The job hunt has now begun!”

Christopher Cowan recently accepted an endowed chair faculty position at the Medical University of South Carolina, and will be moving his family and research lab from Boston to Charleston, S.C. in early June 2016.

Arik Greenberg led an interfaith march on Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Los Angeles as a show of solidarity from all faiths for our Muslim brothers and sisters living amid a world rife with Islamophobia. He still teaches at Loyola Marymount University, and is serving as dean of academics at the fledgling Ezra University, rapidly moving toward initial accreditation. He is also preparing for his first powerlifting meet on June 19.

Arthur Magni e-mails: “I still don my (pilfered) Cardinal-red team singlet with pride during races and did so at this year’s marathon, as I have for many other marathons. But before I continue, I should clarify that unlike past years when I officially qualified and lined up at the start, I only jumped in (bandited) at mile 7 this year to join a fellow alum, Jon Chesto, who started properly with a number and ran a quite impressive sub-3 for a 40-something on a warm day. I’m happy to report that while Jon was the more impressive runner, I got more call-outs from the crowd for ‘Go Wes’ or ‘Wesleyan!’ As a bonus, the supporters knew the difference in pronunciation between our alma mater and Wellesley.”

Emmanuelle Slossberg writes: “Just a quick note to let you know that my husband, Matt, and our daughters, Eva (8) and Mae (4), went to Amy Barrett’s ’94 house for a weekend in Claremont, Calif. Amy and Jonathan have two lovely boys, Everett and Desmond, and of course, let’s not forget Daisy, the Jack Russell queen of the house!

“With all of this parenting, I have realized the little that I know, notwithstanding books and books and ‘how to’s’ so I am organizing a small experimental workshop in New York City led by a wonderful Greek woman named Haroula Ntalla (child, couple and family therapist and professor) on parenting as a way to see how we can all benefit from a little ‘live’ guidance. I will keep you posted. At this point, everyone I speak to is quite receptive to the idea that we can always learn some basics vs. learning on the job. If you think about it, you can learn astrophysics and even playwriting, but one of the most important things we do is a little overlooked. Madeleine Lansky, who is a superstar child psychiatrist in San Francisco, was a great source of support—and humor, too! I also had a quick chat with Dina Kaplan who has since started her own incredible effort to get New Yorkers to meditate.”

Gavin Whitelaw also shared an update: “After eight years of working in Tokyo as associate professor of anthropology at International Christian University (ICU), my family and I will be moving back to the Boston area where I will take up the position of executive director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University.”

Suzanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Kate Gordon writes: “About a year ago I joined the team at the Paulson Institute, a think tank founded by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, to lead their work on climate and sustainable urbanization in the U.S. and China. In this role I’m still heavily involved in the Risky Business Project on climate risk that I helped to start in 2014; I’m also working with a team on the ground in Beijing to figure out how to translate high-level government goals on air quality and climate into real, concrete action on the ground. Unfortunately, all this work in China means I’m traveling a lot, which isn’t great for my kids (Julia is 9, Jacob is 5). Let’s hope Sheryl Sandberg is right and they respect me at the end of the day for working hard at something important!”

Dan Schwartz writes: “Just returned from Ecuador, where I had the honor to be the team physician with Team Rubicon as a part of a rapid-deployment disaster medical assistance team after a magnitude 7.8 Earthquake hit the area. Team Rubicon provided rescue, medical and reconnaissance aid to remote villages that could not be reached by the local government or NGOs. One of our mottos is “we go where the others can’t or won’t.” (See Classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu and click on “Class of 1994” to see the photos.)

John Pollock writes: “I’m pleased to announce the birth of Merritt Winton Pollock on July 21, 2015. Although he didn’t really take to the strange ritual we call ‘sleeping’ until he was about 7 months old, we absolutely adore the little guy. Merritt is an Alabama baby: I just marked my 10th year of residency in the state after initially coming in 2006 for a temporary nine-month job (I didn’t anticipate either the job continuing or meeting my amazing wife, Katie). While on recent work trips, I got to hang out with Anjali Waikar ’99 (Chicago) and Richard Silverman ’88 (New York); I loved these visits both for the reconnect as well as the chance to spend time in a state that isn’t … Alabama. Finally, my fantasy baseball league started at Wesleyan 26 years ago(!) is still going strong, with other team owners including Rob Harper-Mangels ’92, Steve Karon ’92, Rich Dansky ’92, and Aaron Siskind ’93.

Ed. note: We thank Ilana Newell and Jiyoung Gilbreth for their exceptional work as co-secretaries for the Class of 1994. We are delighted to announce that Samera Syeda Ludwig and Caissa Powell have agreed to take on the role as co-secretaries and we welcome them warmly. You’ll hear from them soon, when they request updates for the issue of Wesleyan that you’ll see in early December. Please welcome them and write to them at:

Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com

Rachel Hunt and her family will be moving to Los Angeles this summer as her husband begins a new role at USC. She is excited to meet/connect with Wes folks out there. Her kids (K and grade 2) will begin school at the Franklin Avenue Elementary in August. Please reach out! : )

Stacy Theberge Taylor: “Sorry to have missed our Reunion last spring, but Niko Taylor made his debut on April 30, 2015, which was a little too close to make it possible. I was thinking about all of you, and wish I could have been there to celebrate on Foss Hill. Next time! In my small local mom group there are randomly two other Wes folk… Bryn Sewell ’04 and Jamie Green, who is married to Ezra Steinberg ’01. Ezra is also Makeala Steinberg Kingsley’s ’98 sister. Guess I had to have a baby to find my Wes tribe here in Maine.”

Laura Egendorf and Lauren Sitzer were in Phoenix, Ariz., celebrating Christianne Meneses Jacobs’ 45th birthday. Christianne reports that they enjoyed the weekend at the Marriott Revive Spa and ate real Mexican food for dinner every night. For her birthday, Christianne gifted herself a new 2016 Toyota Corolla.

Leah Bartell still lives in the Boston area, freelances as a violinist, and directs the music program at a small private school in Lexington. She founded her own youth orchestra in 2014, and it is endlessly inspiring to work with young musicians. Leah’s two sons, Adrian, 7 and Bryn, 4, keep her running around and laughing. Though Leah missed the last Reunion, she hopes to make it next time!

Katy McNeill: “Last month we (my wife, two daughters, and I) took a big leap and moved ‘across the pond’ for a job opportunity of mine. I’ve taken a position as the functional director for access for the UK Data Service (the primary archive for social and economic data for the UK), which is based at the University of Essex near Colchester. I look forward to connecting with alums out here (already work with Melanie Wright ’84, who is a colleague at the archive) and if you’re ever in the neighborhood please drop me a line!”

Matthew Gold writes: I’ve recently co-edited (with Lauren F. Klein) a new book out from the University of Minnesota Press: Debates in the Digital Humanities 2016. The book is the second Debates volume—the first was published in 2012 and was accompanied by an open-access, interactive Web version: dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu. We’ll be releasing a new version of the website in a few weeks that will contain the new book, as well. And Debates is now a book series from Minnesota, so more volumes will follow.”

Jeanne Bonner writes: “I have finally, finally added a grad school degree to my résumé—an MFA in creative writing from Bennington. It was hard work (the fantastic faculty included Alexander Chee ’89) but also fun to see what another New England liberal arts school was like!

In April, Dwayne Busby and his family enjoyed a Bajan vacation with Dale Allsopp, Mike Jones, Ayeisha King and Damon Smith and their families. Dwayne still lives in Houston and works at University of Houston-Clear Lake as executive director of development and alumni relations. Though this will be his last Notes as class secretary it will not be his last class note. Once a Wesleyan alumnus always a Wesleyan alumnus. Go, Wes!”

Ed. note: We thank Dwayne Busby for his many years of gracious service as 1995’s class secretary, and we’re delighted to welcome Bo Bell and Katy McNeill as the co-secretaries for 1995. You’ll hear from them soon as they begin preparing for the notes you’ll see in the next magazine in December.

DWAYNE BUSBY | dwaynedbusby@gmail.com

So great to see so many of you at Reunion! A huge thank you goes out to Reunion Committee Chairs Topher Bellavia, Koyalee Chanda, and Sam Effron, and the rest of the committee: Mark Davis, Kate Treveloni Fencl, Sam Fiske, Daphne Frydman, Tracey Gardner, Dana Holahan, Chung Ma, Ann Camp Mason, Pritha Mittal, and Camellia Noriega.

The class of ’96 smashed the 20th Reunion record with 150 alumni in attendance! We were able to catch up and reminisce beginning on Friday afternoon on Foss Hill. The festivities continued: receptions, WESeminars, department gatherings, a class dinner, and of course, an epic dance party.

Shola Olatoye and Jed Hoyer each received Distinguished Alumnus Awards. Shola was honored for her current work as the chair and CEO of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing authority in the country, and her earlier work in nonprofits furthering affordable housing. Jed was honored for his current work as executive vice president and general manager of the Chicago Cubs, as well as his previous work for the San Diego Padres and the Boston Red Sox. Koyalee Chanda and Dara Federman received University Service Awards.

There were WESeminars given by Topher Bellavia, Mark Jacobs, Javaid Khan, and Jake Sussman. Steve Collins screened his film, and Javaid (aka DJ Van Vader) spun an all-campus dance party under a tent on Saturday night.

All in all, it was a huge success. For those of you who weren’t able to come, we hope you make the next one! And in other news:

Jake Ward writes: “I was the editor-in-chief of Popular Science until 2013, when I left to start a new career as a television correspondent covering science and technology for Al Jazeera America from the San Francisco bureau. In April 2016 the channel shut down, and I’ve now begun work as the host of a four-hour series for public television about human irrationality, which is due to air in 2018.”

Maria Lourdes Chen Quinn announced that her fifth child, Maria Caridad, was born in May. She lives with her family in Wisconsin.

Kelly Bird Pierre lives in Philadelphia with her two children, Oona (14) and Jacques (10). She is the lower school principal at Friends’ Central School.

Berry Brosi just earned tenure at Emory. He writes: “I’m in the department of environmental sciences and am continuing to conduct research on pollinator declines, including summer field work in Colorado. My wife, Karen, is also a professor at Emory in public health, and we have two daughters, Aviva (5) and Zuria (3).”

It was great to catch up in person, but the 25th is a long way off, so keep sending in your updates!

DARA FEDERMAN | darasf@yahoo.com

DACQUE TIRADO | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

After four amazing years, Kimberly King has so kindly agreed to pass the torch on to us, Jessica (Jess) Shea Lehmann and Alexandra (Sasha) Lewis-Reisen. Thank you, Kimberly, for all your hard work and great news! We are super excited to carry on the project of assembling the Class Notes—it’s always been our favorite part of the magazine.

We were also thinking that these notes can be both updates and a conversation, so please send us recommendations for books, podcasts, shows, or movies. And feel free to send your thoughts/good wishes to the class.

Jess lives in Phoenix, Ariz., with her husband and three sons (ages 10, 6, and 4). “I teach nutrition at Arizona State University. I serve as the faculty advisor for the Slow Food club. Last fall, I got to see Hamilton, which was sublime. If you’re interested in sustainable agriculture and/or if you’re into food, I recommend Dan Barber’s book The Third Plate. I’m always behind on Game of Thrones, Orange is the New Black, and Girls, but those are some of my top faves.”

Sasha is living in NYC, working at a nonprofit, New York Legal Assistance Group. “Last year, Ez Cukor ’05 and I helped to set up a WEServe volunteer event in NYC, helping low-income transgender New Yorkers to legally change their names to names they prefer or reflect their gender identity. Let me know if you’d be interested in joining us next time. In the meantime, I am trying to learn how to not bring work home (ha!). Last good book I read: Alice Munro’s Dear Life stories collection. Guilty TV pleasure (can’t believe I’m admitting to the first one in print): Grey’s Anatomy and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.”

We were thrilled to hear from several of our classmates in the spring…

Brent Spodek is the rabbi of Beacon Hebrew Alliance, a creative and rapidly growing Jewish community in the Hudson Valley, N.Y. Alison Keimowitz Spodek is the Rockefeller Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Vassar, where she focuses on toxins in the environment. They have two children, Noa (8) and Abe (5). They can be reached at brent.spodek@gmail.com and alison.spodek@gmail.com

Rob MacDonald recently published a poetry collection, Resuscitation Party (available from Racing Form Press). He’s still living in Jamaica Plain, Mass., and still balancing teaching and writing.

Andrew Frishman wrote to let us know that “Leigh Needleman ’96 and I have been hanging out with Laura Warren ’98, as we’re now practically neighbors—we live just a few blocks from each other near Central Square in CambridgePort in Cambridge, Mass. It doesn’t feel like 20 years ago that I was the Head Resident (HR) in Butterfield A, and Laura was one of the Resident Advisers (RAs)… suddenly it is our children who are in kindergarten together! (and our younger children, each aged 3, are taking Spanish classes together two afternoons a week to prepare for the bilingual immersion school that they’ll attend in a couple of years. Leigh and I also had the incomparable privilege of attending the inimitable Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02’s Hamilton in NYC (Hurrah! and Go, Wes!—We felt some serious Wesleyan pride!!!) Just so happened to be the night that the company did a tribute to Prince—touching in so many ways.”

Larisa Ortiz published a book, Improving Tenant Mix: A Guide for Commercial District Practitioners, and was appointed by NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio to the NYC City Planning Commission. “It’s quite an honor and learning experience! On a personal note, my son, Xavier, is 6 and gets better at solving his Rubik’s Cube every day! Makes his mama proud!”

Malayna Bernstein and Josh Arthurs spent 2015–16 in Italy, where Josh was a Rome Prize fellow at the American Academy in Rome. Their boys, Eli (11) and Carlo (7), spent the year playing soccer and learning Italian. Malayna and Josh continue to teach at West Virginia University. Malayna writes, “If Wes friends are ever in Morgantown, drop us a line!” They can be reached at malaynabernstein@gmail.com and jwarthurs@gmail.com

Bryan Sheckman teaches social studies at Lowell (Mass.) High School and was named a 2016 James Madison Fellow.

Cheryl Goldman Governale writes, “After nearly two years in California, we’ve just moved back to London (my third time!), where the kids are enjoying their new schools. I’m still blogging but looking to set up a photography business soon.”

Mei Woo Chin wrote to us on her way back to Dublin, Ireland, where she has been living for the past five years. She had just finished three months in San Francisco visiting family. Mei writes about food, including for Saveur and Lucky Peach. “Last year in Dublin, my partner Tommy Bergin and I founded Skillet, which paired at-risk youth with members of the Dublin restaurant industry, and trained them in the basics of food prep and service.” Mei keeps in touch with us, Sarah Kollman, and Morgan Fahey ’95, and she adds that “the last Wes person I saw was Michael (Mo) Ouyang ’96, who swung by Dublin for a couple of days. Mo is living in Shanghai, married to the contemporary art curator Zoe Zhang Bing. Mo is the creative director for EndemolShine China (he and Morgan Fahey just worked on a version of Superhuman together, an award-winning megahit show in China), owner of two alarmingly cute dogs, and still playing music.”

We really love hearing from you, so please get in touch! You can e-mail your updates, musings, and recommendations to us at our addresses below. Until next time!

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com