Nella Young ’98, who earned her master’s in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts, has received the German Chancellor’s Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The year-long program offers its fellows an opportunity to design a project that will expand their professional expertise. Young, whose particular interest is in developing planning approaches for cities that have experienced large-scale population change, will work with the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Urban Redevelopment Saxony-Anhalt 2010, a partnership between a state planning agency and a private foundation. A studio arts major as an undergraduate at Wesleyan, she hopes to observe particular ways that community-wide arts projects are used to maintain a high quality of life in cities where population is declining.
Matthew K. Gold ’95, assistant professor of English at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for his innovative digital humanities project, “Looking for Whitman: The Poetry of Place in the Life and Work of Walt Whitman.” The project involves students and professors from four colleges (CUNY, New York University, University of Mary Washington, and Rutgers University, Camden), each of which is located in an area central to Whitman’s life and work. Using social networking technology and an open-source Web site, students will share their written, photographic, and video responses to Whitman’s work. The project was highlighted in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Hispanic Business Magazine included Marlon Quintanilla Paz, MALS ’96, in their listing of the nation’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics. Paz, who is senior counsel to the director of trading and markets at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, played a central role in developing the SEC’s positions on many important regulatory and enforcement matters, including initiatives to address the current financial stress in the markets. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. President of the Hispanic Bar Association of DC, he also served for two terms as national vice–president for the Hispanic National Bar Association. He earned a JD from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a master of laws, with distinction, from Georgetown University.
Anjali Waikar ’99 joined the Boston–based law firm of Krokidas & Bluestein LLP as an associate in the firm’s litigation group. Previously, she was a legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, where she worked on issues relating to post–9/11 racial, religious, and ethnic profiling of immigrant communities and pre–adjudication detention of youth in the Massachusetts judicial justice system. She majored in anthropology at Wesleyan and then earned a juris doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
David Sommerstein ’93, a reporter with North Country Public Radio, received the 2008 National Edward R. Murrow Award for journalism excellence from the Radio–Television News Directors Association for Farm to Farm, Family to Family. This three–part series explored the migration of Mexican and Central American farm workers in and out of rural communities of New York and was judged Best News Series by a small–market station. Additionally, the series won Best News Series and Best Enterprise Reporting from the Associated Press in June. At Wesleyan, Sommerstein was a Spanish major.
Gregg Ribatt ’90 was named president and CEO of The Stride Rite Corporation, and will direct the growth of Stride Rite’s brands, which include Stride Rite, Keds, Sperry Top-Sider, and Saucony. He will be responsible for managing all operational aspects for Stride Rite’s business, including approximately 300 Stride Rite stores. Previously, Ribatt was hired as president and chief operating officer of Stuart Weitzman Holdings, LLC, in 2006 and promoted to chief executive officer in 2007. Prior to this, Ribatt worked for Bennett Footwear Group. A government major at Wesleyan, he holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Ramon Rivera ’95, a government major at Wesleyan, was named one of “New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2007,” based on peer recognition and professional achievement. Additionally, The New Jersey Law Journal named Rivera to its “40 Under 40” list for 2007, featuring lawyers “worthy of attention” for their accomplishments to date. Rivera, a senior associate with the firm of Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC, works on both labor and employment issues, as well as practicing in the areas of land use law. He received his JD from Rutgers, where he served as articles editor for the Rutgers Race & Law Review.
Steve Roslonek ’93 received a Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Marvelous Day! (Rounder Records, 2006), which they named one of the best CDs of 2006 for this “sprightly collection of 16 tunes that range from funky rock to ska to flute-y folk and power pop, all of which invite sing-along participation.” After majoring in economics at Wesleyan, Roslonek discovered his passion for writing children’s music and has been entertaining kids with his clever lyrics and catchy tunes ever since. In January, the Wesleyan Clubs of Connecticut invited Roslonek to return for the fourth annual SteveSongs concert in Crowell Concert Hall. Find further information at Stevesongs.com.
