Class Notes | 1990s

Hi, fellow ’98ers. After a decade or so of doing our class notes, I (Jason) am ready to pass the torch on to someone else. Abby has been my class notes partner for the past three issues and will stay on, but it would be nice if she had some help. Would any of you be willing to help keep this going? It’s fulfilling to keep everyone informed but it’s easier when two people do it. If you can, email Abby or me. And, here are your notes:

After 20 years of making commercial video games, Simon Strange has returned to academia, becoming a PhD candidate at the University of Abertay in Dundee, Scotland. His goal is to earn the world’s first PhD specifically focused on game design and production. Not to be outdone, Simon’s teenage son, Oskar, hopes to attend Hogwarts during that same period.

Sean Dague is now part of the quantum computing team at IBM, helping make this next great leap in computing accessible to the public. He and Susan Tveekrem MA’99 live in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and have a daughter, Arwen, who just started kindergarten this year. To celebrate her 5th birthday, they revived the old Wesleyan Physics Department tradition of making liquid nitrogen ice cream. The 15 kids with safety glasses on all loved both the show and the ice cream that followed.

A few annual traditions keep them in touch with Wesfolks. For their Memorial Day party, they got to host Trey Belew and his wife, Lara. They took the train up from Maryland where Trey is part of the research staff at the biology department of UMD. Shoshe Cole ’99 stopped by on her way back from the 20th Reunion. She’s living in Ithaca, N.Y., and recently completed her PhD in planetary science. They also were visited by Mike Christie-Fogg and wife Kaileah and their twin daughters. They made it a day trip from their place in Mystic, Conn. Mike has transitioned from woodworking to faux bois, and you can see his work at David Sutherland’s showroom in Manhattan.

Another annual tradition is camping in the Catskills with Scott McCracken and family. The McCracken clan has been doing this since their first child was born 13 years ago. Sean and Susan joined when Arwen was 1. When not pitching a tent or grilling burgers over an open fire in a 24-inch frying pan, Scott works as the medical director for a community health center.

They got to see Nick Coleman and wife H.N. James last summer. Nick is now a tenured professor of computer science at Austin Peay University in Tennessee. A few years ago, Sean, Susan, and Arwen visited them in Tennessee to see the great American solar eclipse. The epicenter came right over their apartment complex, and they had a full day of eclipse festivities, including solar scopes and snacks all day long.

Inspired by Anil Seth, Sean has become very involved in Citizens Climate Lobby, a volunteer organization that is lobbying congress to put a steadily rising fee on CO2 emissions and returning that money to households as a monthly dividend. He participated in two D.C. lobby days this year, the second with Trey Belew. The end of lobby day saw 75 co-sponsors for H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, the legislation they are advocating for.

Back in New York, this volunteer work was a great excuse to reconnect with Alison ’97 and Brent Spodek. Brent is the rabbi leading the Beacon Hebrew Alliance and lent early support to the bill, and Alison is a professor of chemistry at Vassar College. Sean had an opportunity to give a guest lecture in Alison’s climate change class this last spring on making climate policy.

Dahlia Schweitzer writes: “I have published another book (L.A. Private Eyes) with Rutgers University Press, and I have moved back to NYC for a teaching position at FIT in film and media studies. I’m really excited to get back in touch with all my Wesleyan people who live out on the East Coast and to finally be able to make it back to campus for the occasional visit.”

Jason Becton | jason@mariebette.com

Abby Elbow | aelbow@gmail.com

In the fall, Francisco Tezen wrote to us about his wife Linda Rodriguez: “Linda is an executive director of Global Philanthropy at JP Morgan Chase. She was recognized last week by the New York City Council for her leadership in expanding opportunities for youth in New York City and around the country through her work. The recognition was part of the Council’s Puerto Rican Heritage celebration at City Hall.” We are thrilled that Linda’s work was honored.

Kimberly Rae Gilbert wrote to us from Boulder, Col.: “I recently published a children’s picture book I wrote called When We March (WhenWeMarch.com), which explains why citizens (even the very youngest!) in a democracy take to the streets in peaceful protest. Creating the book was a true community act and a labor of love. My co-creator and I relied on volunteer efforts and crowdfunding to get it done—including the love and support of dozens of Wes friends. Now we’re paying it forward by donating 100-plus books and working with nationwide organizations that support children’s education and serve marginalized populations. I’m so grateful that sharing this book continues to fortify its underlying message: that there’s joy and power in working together to promote the best in us.” We love this message!

We heard from Emy Johnson Zener, who works as a psychiatric social worker living in Washington Heights with Max Zener ’94 and their 13-year-old daughter Lucy. “We just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. After 18 years working in community mental health, I started a private psychotherapy practice for adults in Washington Heights. I also work part-time as a psychotherapist at Housing Works on the Lower East Side, working with adults dealing with issues such as HIV, homelessness, and addiction, in addition to having other mental health needs. I sing with MasterVoices, a NYC chorus, under the baton of Ted Sperling, and do several concerts per year. In addition to classical works, we also do musical theatre and more experimental works. It is thrilling to sing back-up to some true masters in such venues as Carnegie Hall and City Center and to be able to keep one foot in the performing world while doing other work that I love. Max is working full-time as an audiobook narrator and actor. Lucy is soon to celebrate her bat mitzvah with our unique Humanistic Jewish congregation. She is in eighth grade at the Lang School, a school for twice exceptional (“2e”) kids—gifted kids with disabilities—and is thriving in this amazing educational environment.” Emy and Max, we are so happy to learn about your work. Mazel tov to Lucy!

In the fall of 2019, Alek Lev wrote and directed his second feature film, entitled WHAT? “It’s a black and white, silent, feature comedy with a cast and crew of deaf and hearing artists. Inspired by Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, the film tells the story of a deaf actor, fed up with Hollywood, who decides to take matters into his own . . . hands. The film is in post-production now, and the next steps are film festival submissions and (silent) prayer. Go behind the scenes at TheWhatMovie.com.” We’re all crossing our fingers for you, Alek!

Cyrus Bryden reached out from Charlotte, N.C., where he has been living for 15 years and where he works in the accounting industry. “This past year, Dave Katz and I were fortunate to go see the Patriots play in the NFL Superbowl. In 2019, I traveled to many foreign countries which included Luxembourg, Finland, and Estonia. While in Finland, I reconnected with Charly Salonius-Pasternak where we experienced several saunas and an October swim in the Baltic Sea.” So fun!

In December, Derek DiMatteo successfully defended his dissertation, “Academic Dissent: U.S. Higher Education Protest Literature, 1985-2015” and graduated from Indiana University, earning a PhD in English with a concentration in literature and a minor in American studies. “As of this month, I am a visiting lecturer in the Department of English at IU Bloomington, teaching full time while I search for a tenure track position in the USA or abroad.” Congratulations, Derek! We wish you the best in your job search.

Elijah Hawkes wrote to us from Vermont: “I’ve been glad to cross paths in recent months with good friends and Wes grads Omar Rahim ’96, Brion Winston, and Ruben Fleischer. Omar shared with me a wonderful short film he wrote and directed called Agency, which has recently screened at South Asian film festivals in Chicago and NYC. Ruben shared stories of his work as a director and producer, including how much he enjoyed reuniting with the cast Zombieland for the sequel. Brion lives with his wife Melanie Schoen outside of Albany. Brion—in addition to working full time as a heart surgeon—has written an original musical production, The Count: A Musical, which comes to NYC in March. I’m in my 20th year working in public schools at teacher and principal, first in NYC and now in Vermont.   have a book coming out this spring, School for the Age of Upheaval: Classrooms that Get Personal, Get Political, and Get to Work (Rowman & Littlefield).“ What fantastic news!

Andrew Frishman wrote that he “spent a delightful few days between X-mas and New Years with Sasha Cooke. Sasha was the inimitable Wesleyan squash coach in the mid/late 1990s and it was great to catch up with him and reconnect with his two amazing teenage children! As always, there was great hiking and skiing, food, music, and discourse on a wide variety of topics.” And “on New Year’s Eve eve (December 30th), I had a rockin’ time going out to see Deer Tick with Christian Housh. He had invited me to see Idles late last year and I’m enjoying the informal tradition that we’re developing of inviting each other out to see concerts in the Cambridge/Boston area. Who else wants in?”

Lauren Porosoff’s second edition of her book will be released in May with the new title Teach Meaningful: Tools to Design the Curriculum at Your Core. Lauren explains, “It’s about empowering teachers to use their values as a starting point for creating more meaningful learning experiences for students.”

Eric Lichtenfeld wrote: “I’m living in Columbus, Ohio, with my wife, our son, and daughter, who are twins, and our two dogs who are not. I’m still writing for the film industry and I’m also a psychotherapist. I’ve just opened my own office, where I specialize in treating trauma, loss and grief, anxiety, and other concerns. Doing this work feels like a real privilege–and considering the various pursuits I’ve been able to enjoy over the last 20-something years, that’s saying something.”

And last, but certainly not least, Eric Bor wrote to us to share some exciting news! “My wife Melanie and I proudly announce the birth of our son, Alexander Myles Bor, aka Xander, born Dec. 19, 2019.” Congratulations, Eric and Melanie! We did the math. Could Xander be a member of Wesleyan’s class of 2042? Hmm . . .

That’s all for now. We love getting your updates, so send them anytime!

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Howdy, classmates—I hope this message finds you all well in 2020! I made sure to send out last year with a bang by experiencing an amazing trip to Albania and The Balkans (Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia)—a must see part of the globe for all of you world travelers.

I’ve also enjoyed catching up with Kristen Worrell, Kwesi Fraser, and Javaid Khan via text and email over the last few months.

Marysol Castro sends in news that she’s returned to television as the host of the 9 a.m. hour of the PIX11 Morning News. You can catch it Monday through Friday on channel 11 in New York or stream it on pix11.com. She will continue her duties as PA announcer for the New York Mets. She mentions she has no idea when she’ll sleep, but tell ’96ers to come visit her in the booth if you find yourself at CitiField!

Stacey Samuel (a fellow DMVer) is now executive producer of Al Jazeera America and we might link up soon at a local concert venue, the famed 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

Jake Sussman and Jessica Flaxman are living outside of Cambridge, Mass., with their two daughters, Julia (17) and Lydia (11). Jake is a managing director of The Justice Collaborative, a criminal justice reform project. Check out its journalism arm, The Appeal (theappeal.org). Jessica is in her first year of a doctoral program in educational leadership at Penn and consulting with a number of schools. Their biggest family news is that Julia, a senior at Concord Academy, received word that she will be a member of Wesleyan’s class of 2024! Woohoo!

Rallie Snowden writes to say. “Happy New Year,” and to update all that she adopted a second child last year. His name is Miguel and he is joyful and heavily loved by his mama and his sister, Porter. She says that other than being a full-time mama, she’s about to reach her six-year mark of being a university counselor and the LGBTQ coordinator at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va.

Lazar Treschan started a new job as vice president for policy and impact at Here to Here, a new nonprofit in the Bronx that is trying to change NYC high schools and colleges to make them more experiential and utilize more internships and other work-based learning approaches. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, who also works in the nonprofit youth field, and his two kids, Celia and Elodie.

Kelly Bird is living in Philadelphia with her wife, Jane. She’s working on her doctorate in school leadership at UPenn and coaching student-teachers from the master’s program at Penn, working in a South Philly public school. Kelly’s daughter, Oona, is headed to college in the fall, her son, Jacquo, is headed to high school, and she has a baby named Josephine that she and Jane adopted last year.

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Hello, Class of 1995! Bo writing for this issue and I’ll start with my own updates. I’m still living in New York’s idyllic Hudson Highlands, working on digital products, raising two really fun little humans, and playing soccer as often as my knees will allow. I get face time with Mike Kleinsteuber, Kiersten Miller, and Laura Roberts ’97 occasionally.

Jennifer “Parker” Dockray is still living in Oakland CA, co-parenting a delightful 13-year-old, and working for reproductive justice. She is the executive director of All-Options, a national organization supporting people in all their experiences with pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption.

Brett Jones, international woman of mystery, writes: “I’ve been living in Suva, Fiji, for the last two years, where I work as a foreign service officer for USAID, and my husband for the State Department. Next month, classmate Nicole Robinson ’96 is coming to Fiji for a visit. Our next assignment is Canberra, Australia, starting this March.”

Jacob Waples and Sandy Miller have been living in Golden, Colo., for 20 years (!), aside from a two-year stint in Santiago, Chile. Jacob works at a small consulting company in Golden as an environmental geochemist to support mine permitting and closure. Sandy is a baroque cellist, teaching and performing in Denver. They see a group of Colorado Wes alumni regularly for skiing, geology discussions over beers, and to hang out with each other’s’ kids, including Tom Rutkowski ’96, Hillary Hamann ’94, Josh Pollock ’96, and Adam Hobson ’97.

My WesCo Up-4 hallmate, Cheryl Mejia, is always good with the updates, so of course she sent one for our Reunion issue! “Going into smaller private practice from large interventional pain group. Loving what I do. It’s a thank’ful’ job (as opposed to thankless job). Wife and I are doing great. Living in western Maryland. Enjoying boutique fitness like heart rate training programs, barre, and snowshoeing. I miss Son Tran ’95 because he moved to Canada with his ortho surgeon spouse.”

Speaking of Up-4, Adam Hirsch is living in Madison, Wisc., with his wife and two kids, not far from Matt Edes-Pierotti. Adam’s working remotely as a software developer for Axios and doing occasional hobby forays into fiction writing and podcast production. Nicholas Moran, who along with spouse Adair and dog Tala are currently traveling the country performing in Jurassic World Live Tour, got to visit with Adam when he brought his daughters to see the show in Milwaukee this past November. Nicholas will be touring North America for at least another year but encourages everyone to look him up if the show passes through your area.

Sabrina Prince sends some long-distance love: “I moved last year from New York to Germany for life and love. I am still working on health care advertising and have relocated to our European offices. I still speak regularly with best friend Jacqueline Moon and received an adorable Christmas card from Frank Truslow of his lovely wife and adorable two sons!”

Rob Armstrong and his wife Wylie are back from London and buying a house in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, with their 10-year-old twins. Rob still writes for the Financial Times. He says: “Amazingly, we are as dull as this makes us sound, but people should come visit us anyway. I see Russell Agle and Scott Laton ’94 all the time, and they are just like they were 25 years ago, only more so.”

Stacy Taylor writes: “I’m still living outside of Portland, Maine, helping my husband Jason run our animation shop, Little Zoo Studio. Our son Niko is turning 5. (Last Reunion he was only a few weeks old, so I missed it.) Niko is really into dinosaurs and Legos and making me pick up things in his wake.”

David Biello is still in New York, now as the science curator for TED Talks and working on a next book, among other side hustles. Still hanging out with Marcus Green, Shobana Shankar, and others. He’s father to two wonderful kids, Beatrice (12) and Desmond (10), and is always looking for pro-tips for the tween/teen years!

Greg Rolland writes: “I am in my eighth year working at Deerfield Academy—a western Massachusetts boarding school—in financial administration and, with my wife as the nurse director and my eldest daughter now a ninth-grade day student there too, it’s a convenient family set-up. I see nearby Peter Follet and Stephanie Flaherty regularly, and Peter and I hiked some of the upper-Hudson river valley with classmates Justin Stern and James Becker ’97 this past fall. Made proud of Wes recently (again) after reading its Common Reading selection for all incoming students: Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum co-authored by two inspiring alumni. Also just finished a memoir of Jimmy Carter from about 25 years ago, and it’s amazing to consider how much peace-making he did even just in the years we attended Wesleyan. A true embodiment of compassionate faith in action. Time to move forward. Go Wes!”

After two “rollercoaster” years as CFO at the National Network of Abortion Funds, Jen Levine-Fried took a bit of a swerve and moved into a finance position at Suffolk University in downtown Boston a year ago. She’s still staying connected to abortion rights, serving as the treasurer on the Board of Medical Students for Choice, and is also on the finance committee of her synagogue, which is currently composed 100% of Wes alumni.

Finally, news from Jessica Peterson: “My family and I moved back to the Denver area in 2015 (after almost 15 years on the ruggedly beautiful western slope of Colorado). In 2017, I started working at Front Range Community College (which is the largest community college in the state, serving approximately 28,000 students annually). I have wholeheartedly consumed the proverbial Kool-Aid and am happy to play a small part in helping so many students improve their circumstances. (I have to sheepishly admit that I was not fully aware of all the ways in which community colleges provide educational and career opportunities to traditionally underserved populations.)”

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Greetings from frigid Chicago! It was wonderful to hear from many of our classmates—some who had not provided updates for quite some time!

Deborah Lowenthal Sorin, for example, said she had not written since the birth of her daughter—now 10! Her husband Dan,(a professor at Duke) and she have lived in Durham, N.C., for 17-plus years, excluding two sabbaticals, one to Portland, Ore., in 2010, and one in 2017-2018 to Edinburgh, Scotland. Her family has enjoyed living abroad and going to school. She writes, “During term breaks, we traveled all over Europe. Seeing Carnival in Malta was the coolest thing ever.” While in Edinburgh, Deborah took a job at international development consultancy, Challenges Group, and has been working remotely for them since they returned to the U.S. Deborah also serves on the Board of Directors of FosterClub, the national nonprofit for youth in foster care.

From others on the East Coast:

Matthew Solomon lives in Washington, D.C., with his family, where he practices securities law. Matt attended the 25th year Reunion and enjoyed catching up with Emily Henn and Sid Espinoza, among others. His 12-year-old daughter, Callie, already has her sights set on Wes, and Matt needs to break the news to her that she likely won’t be recruited as a ‘rock climber’.”

Marc Waxman writes that he moved his family to Wrentham, Mass., about three years ago to settle on a small “farm” (they have a couple horses and a bunch of chickens, dogs, and cats). He writes, “My two teenage sons keep me busy—very much enjoy watching them in organized athletics, and not so much enjoy working through the various injuries that are part of the process.” Marc also became executive director of Mindfulness Director Initiative which he co-founded about a year ago where the mission is to work toward every school community having a full-time mindfulness director. Marc would love to hear from anyone who are interested in being a mindfulness director or would love to see one at their local school. Email him at mwaxman@mindfulnessdirector.org.

Joseph Stein recently started new job at Natixis Advisors in Boston as director of quantitative research. He also joined the board of a nonprofit called Speak for the Trees, which works to increase tree canopy in Boston, particularly in lower income communities. He has two kids (7 and 9) who are doing great and enjoying school.

Aaron Passell is enjoying his work as associate director of urban studies at Barnard College and is soon to get his second book out. He also would love to hear from other Wes urbanists. Working in New York allows him to see Jesse Hendrich and Seth Lewis Levin, and sometimes even Scott Rosenberg, visiting from California. He also often crosses paths with Amy Fiske ’95 in Philadelphia.

From the West Coast:

Kate Gordon is going into her second year as Governor Gavin Newsom’s Senior Advisor on Climate Policy, as well as the director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. She writes, “I can honestly say the job is never boring and is often incredibly exciting—though daunting, especially as we grapple with utility bankruptcies, fires, and just the sheer size of managing the world’s fifth largest economy. So far, the commute from Berkeley to Sacramento hasn’t killed me, mostly thanks to Amtrak and its cafe car. My husband Gino Segre is helping to run a life sciences business incubator program called QB3, which includes working to turn UC Berkeley’s former art museum into an incubator space. Kids are now nearly 13 and 8 and doing great.”

Tanya Bowers is working on the Diversity and Inclusion/Equal Employment Opportunity Panel for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and chairing the planning commission for the City of Pasco. She invites us to look her up if you find yourselves in Eastern Washington.

Olivia Morgan writes that, “together with California First Partner, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, I just launched a nonprofit called the California Partners Project to focus on closing gender gaps in California. We will also be advocating on behalf of children’s well-being and mental health, especially as it relates to the effects of media and technology, industries which lead our economy and shape the world.” You can read about her recent project that received some publicity in Politico.

Olivia also updated us that Sid Espinoza moved to San Francisco and she re-connected with Erica Walters who also is raising teen boys at the same high school as Olivia’s teen boys! Olivia saw Leyda Carvajal in Portland, Ore., last spring, where she is raising two boys and works as an anesthesiologist.

Stephanie Anagnoson is the director of water and natural resources for Madera County, in California’s Central Valley. She works with residents and farmers to achieve groundwater sustainability.

From the international front:

Eric Byler writes that he moved his wife and kids (4 and 2) to Australia a year ago planning to return to the filmmaking (narrative) after more than a decade in documentary film and journalism. He writes, “The recent fires, and our narrow escape, led to this piece for The Intercept, and this video. It looks like I’ll be writing more about the climate crisis and its devastating impacts in Australia. I try to get out of journalism, and events pull me back in. But in the year I’ve been in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), I’ve written the screenplay for a film that follows a Chinese-Australian woman to her family’s ancient compound in China, which is, of course, haunted.”

David Campbell is halfway through his second assignment with Dell Technologies, currently serving as their CFO in Japan. He is “having a blast with my wife Brenna (25 years this April . . . yes, we got married less than a year after graduation) and our two youngest girls who are studying at the International School of the Sacred Heart here in Tokyo. We already have one college graduate and two others studying back in Texas while we are on assignment. Had a great chance to catch up with my homestay family from my junior year abroad in Kyoto. Would love to catch up with anyone else in the area, especially as the Olympics approach! You can reach me at dcampbell72@gmail.com or LinkedIn.”

Suzie Purcell Byers and husband Carl Bradford Byers ’93 are moving to Spain this summer so Suzie can begin serving as head of school at Madrid Montessori. Suzie said, “Carl will continue his venture capital work at F-Prime and his teaching of finance at Harvard, which means that he’ll be traveling back and forth across the pond a lot. Our son, Jake ’21, will be in his senior year as a film and English double-major at Wesleyan, so he’ll visit us during vacations until his graduation. We’re holding out hope that he’ll find a job in Europe, but it’s more likely that he’ll find himself back in Hollywood where he has been reading scripts during breaks. Our daughter, Emily, probably will choose to do a gap year in between graduating from Concord Academy and starting college (not sure where as of now). Our youngest, Katie, will be attending The American School of Madrid for high school. If you happen to be in the Iberian Peninsula, please email us at byersfamily@icloud.com so we can reconnect!”

And, finally, from the Midwest:

I (Samera) am enjoying practicing law at my new firm, L&G Law Group in Chicago and serving on the Board of Directors at the Chicago High School For the Arts. My twin daughters, Sarah and Norah—almost 11—are doing well. We survived our first ever trip to Disney back in November with my sister, Humera Syeda ’90 and her kids. My other sister, Sohera Syeda ’96, could not make it so we plan on visiting her and her kids in Boston in the Spring.

It is wonderful to keep up with all of you here as well as many of you on Facebook. If your travels bring you to Chicago, please look me up!

Samera Syeda Ludwig | samera.ludwig@gmail.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

Hi, classmates! This month we have some exciting updates about travel, careers, and a new film premiere. Please send us an update in the future about your post-Wes life.

Anne Beaven writes, “I just got back from a week in Panama with my wife, 10-year-old son, and mom. It was a fantastic trip. Happy 2020 to all.”

Jorge Campos writes: “2019 gave me another wonderful opportunity to travel to far off places with many fun memories created. The new year began with my return from Mexico via Toronto on my NAFTA trip. My first destination, Zürich, proved a perfect way to indulge in hot chocolate while looking out on those majestic, snow-capped Alps in mid-January. Then off to Africa. Johannesburg energy was upended by amazing Cape Town. Italia called but my next trip wasn’t one I wanted to take. My bright-eyed grandfather (Papagrande) passed away.

“March rolled around and I marched on. This time to New Zealand and a marathon from south to north. April brought me to Singapore, my personal delight. My stay in Tokyo provided another spring surprise with the city blooming all over. After a rare, relaxing period in NYC, it was back on a flight to Hong Kong. My next stop—South Korea—was perfectly timed to enjoy delicious food with kimchi. My return to New York via Frankfurt gave me an opportunity to spend time with my friends in that city. The following month, July, meant my pilgrimage to Mexico to visit family. Shortly thereafter, Japan with a marathon zigzag. Then, Berlin in August followed, which enchanted me. Passing up business trips caught up to me when it became necessary to head south, this time to Brazil. A routine trip put my world upside down. It wasn’t the trips that mattered as much as the people along the way.”

Jaclyn Friedman emails: “My fourth book Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World has been published by Seal Press. It’s an anthology that I co-edited with my Yes Means Yes collaborator, Jessica Valenti, and features brilliant essays from the likes of Tatiana Maslany, Dahlia Lithwick, Representative Ayanna Pressley, and lots more. About to head out on book tour, where I’ll see Wes pals Janice Jones, Shana Boniface, Elizabeth Toohey ’94, and Tristan Taormino.”

Therese Casper is finishing up her documentary film, The Invisible Father, tracing her father’s underground life, and considering both the promise and pitfalls of authentic creativity. You can learn more at pieroheliczer.com.

Noel Lawrence writes: “I am premiering my feature Sammy-Gate at International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film is a dark, political satire about how Sammy Davis, Jr. caused Watergate. Here’s more info: iffr.com/en/2020/films/sammy-gate.”

Jason Rekate is moving back to New York after 14 years overseas in five different cities to be the head of Citi’s Global Corporate Bank in September.

Bronwen Williams Sainsbury writes in, “I completed my MBA at Seattle University and I’m president of a home decor company, Stack Resources.”

Jodi Samuels writes: “I had a job transition in early November and I’m now the new senior grants specialist at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which is just two blocks from our home in downtown Sacramento. My focus is on strategically building up the government grants portfolio to help reach the foundation’s goal of doubling our impact by 2028 and to support the chancellor’s innovative ‘Vision for Success’ for the entire California community college system. I co-presented a session on mentoring at the national Grant Professionals Association (GPA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., and served on a panel for another session related to mentoring. My spouse, Evan Smestad, and I spent New Year’s Eve 2020 in Vancouver, B.C., and have plans to celebrate in Iceland next year.”

Emmanuelle Chammah-Slossberg writes, “After growing up and staying in NYC, Matt and I finally decided to take Eva (11) and Mae (7) to get the ‘open-air’ experience and moved to Westport, Conn. I am now a principal at CetraRuddy Architecture, where I have been for the last 11 years. I joined the Board of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU.global). We will be honoring Alexandria Villanseñor, a 14-year-old climate activist and founder of Earth Uprising. Other than thinking about how we can change the world in that way, one piece at a time, we are plenty busy adjusting to our new schools, neighbors and making new friends. So happy to be able to have big dinners and walk to the beach!”

Kim Smith, who resides in Montpelier, Vt., was promoted to the position of program manager at Everybody Wins! Vermont, a reading mentor program that serves over 600 elementary schoolchildren every year.

Diego von Vacano was named full professor of political science at Texas A&M University.

Ari Abel writes, “I am a facial plastic surgeon in Wilmington, Del., and have two daughters—wonderful young women who are 11 and 12. I followed up my brief wrestling career at Wesleyan by serving as the ring physician at several Ultimate Fighting Championships.”

Suzanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Paul writes for this issue. Greetings and salutations from Washington, D.C., and happy 50th birthday to many of you who have recently celebrated, or are looking forward to a fun party, and/or fear that big number looming around the corner. I did it last year and survived. It was great to hear from so many people including some first-timers. So, without further ado . . .

Richard Dietrich co-edited In Pursuit of History: A Lifetime Collecting Colonial American Art and Artifacts. This book showcases highlights from the Dietrich American Foundation and tells the story of the collector and the foundation. The foundation was established in 1963 by H. Richard Dietrich Jr. with a focus on 18th-century American fine and decorative arts. The book was published in association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Abby Saguy published her third book Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are. Through scores of interviews with LGBTQ+ people, undocumented immigrant youth, fat-acceptance activists, Mormon fundamentalist polygamists, and sexual harassment lawyers, the book shows how coming out has moved beyond gay and lesbian rights groups and how different groups wrestle with the politics of coming out in their efforts to resist stigma and enact social change.

Noele Nelson enjoys living in Atlanta with her spouse and working at the CDC. She’s now a branch chief in the Division of Viral Hepatitis, overseeing all of the prevention activities, including vaccine research and policy. Noele had a great time visiting Martin Reames ’94 and his family in Guadalajara, Mexico, where they were living for a year.

Jonathan Liebson enjoys seeing Benno Schmidt ’93 in Brooklyn Heights, along with his adorable son, Charlie. Jonathan’s most recent writing can be found online at The Atlantic and Tablet.

Natacha Vacroux and her philosophy professor husband, Chris Meyers, quit their jobs in Washington, D.C., last year to move to Hawaii. Natacha loves being the FEMA lead co-located in state’s emergency management agency during the day, and editing Chris’s third book, The Straight Dope on Drugs: A Philosophical Examination of Drugs and Drug Policy, at night. They have a killer Mai Tai recipe and look forward to hosting old college friends.

Mary Newton Lima is living in Cape Cod and commuting daily to Cambridge, Mass., where she works as the research program coordinator of the MIT Sea Grant Program, which is part of the National Sea Grant program, the research arm of NOAA. Her role is a jack-of-all-trades, primarily focusing on coordinating proposals, fellowships, and staff scientists. Her husband works with the Ocean Twilight Zone project at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Their eldest daughter, Julia, is a freshman at Union College, and their youngest, Cecilia, is a sophomore in high school.

Speaking of new jobs, Chris Chesak started a new job as executive director of the 92-year-old Outdoor Writers Association of America.

After 16 years as a communication and video production professor at Franklin Pierce University, Heather Weibel Tullio decided to go back to high school. She is loving her new job as a college counselor at St. Bernard’s High School in Fitchburg, Mass., where she graduated from. Her son Oliver just applied to colleges so she, along with husband Tom Tullio ’90, is planning a trip to visit Carleton College in early February. They are looking forward to staying with Martin Reames ’94 and his family.

Darcy Dennett is working on a new, original Netflix series called Well that premieres in the spring. She writes, “I hope those who are inspired check it out. It’s been quite a journey.”

Amy Smith parted ways with Headlong, the nonprofit she co-founded with Andrew Simonet and David Brick ’91, and is doing freelance work as a dance and theater artist, educator, and co-facilitator of anti-racism and anti-oppression trainings. She’s also teaching financial well-being to artists and giving financial management advice to organizations and individuals. Visit amyelainesmith.com if you want to be in touch.

Johanna Stoberock’s novel, Pigs, was published in October. She has been traveling a lot to promote the book where she reports seeing Wesleyan friends at readings around the country. Johanna was selected as the 2019 Artist Trust/Gar LaSalle Storyteller award recipient, which recognizes “an outstanding literary artist working in fiction.”

Michelle Specht, a surgeon at MGH practicing breast surgical oncology, reports that her daughter, Emma ’23, is now at Wesleyan and is loving it! She is happy to report sightings of Susan Stevens and Denise Casper ’90 at Soul Cycle at 5:30 a.m.

Kenko Sone, who was a Japanese government foreign service trainee at Wesleyan, is now a senior official and ambassador in charge of economic diplomacy in the Economic Affairs Bureau at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Finally, Amy Andrews Alznauer hits the book trifecta in 2020. Candlewick Press will be publishing The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, a picture book biography of the Indian mathematician Ramanujanm and Flying Paintings: The Zhou Brothers, A Story of Revolution and Art, a collaboration with the world-renowned artists about their early years. Also, Enchanted Lion Books is publishing The Strange Birds of Flannery O’Conner.

Adam Berinsky | berinsky@mit.edu 

Paul Coviello | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

To start this column, I have the terrible responsibility to inform those who have not heard that Scott Timberg died by suicide on Dec. 10, 2019. The obituary from the Los Angeles Times only begins to tell of the loss of his wit, intellect, and passion for arts and culture. Michael Lill responded to my invitation to add memories and comments about Scott for the column:

“Scott was one of the first friends I met at college. He was brilliant, witty, and an engaging conversationalist. He had a remarkable depth of knowledge of all the liberal arts—especially music and culture—that rubbed off on all who knew him. It was Scott who first introduced me to jazz and other music. I remember hours spent hanging out listening to Scott expound the virtues of Sam Cooke, Chet Baker, and John Coltrane. Scott and I shared our first college road trip together, the first of many. We lived together for two years, first in Butterfield, later in High Rise. We studied abroad in the same semester and visited each other in our respective destinations. My wife and I celebrated with Scott and his wife, Sara, at their wedding. And I visited with Scott and Sara in April 2019 for a 50th birthday getaway to L.A. Scott will be missed by all who knew him, and my heart goes out to his family for this tragic loss.”

In these times, and always, it is important to remember that people care for you. You are not alone. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is available 24 hours every day, at 1-800-273-8255.

There is no easy transition from this to other class news, but I do have a few additional items to share.

Cheryl Gansecki hit two bucket-list items in 2019. She was interviewed on NOVA for the episode Kīlauea: Hawai’i on Fire, fulfilling a “nerdy childhood dream,” as well as a first-author paper in Science, “The Tangled Tale of Kīlauea’s 2018 Eruption as Told by Geochemical Monitoring.”

After seven years as the planning and urban development director for the City of Portland, Maine, Jeff Levine started a new position in August as a faculty member in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. “I’m excited to be teaching and mentoring the next generation of planners, as well as consulting with cities, towns, and developers in New England on best practices in urban planning.”

Joshua Samuels works as a professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, specializing in high blood pressure in kids, both clinically and in research. The work takes him around the country and world to present talks, a bonus for Joshua.

Dana and Jeremy Stacks and Nicki and Jim Miller are working on their expert badge for the National Park Service, traveling to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in 2019. They confirm that the trees are so incredibly large there is no way to prepare for it, and that the night sky is refreshingly dark. Jeremy also checked off Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota (twice!) on the frolic-and-detour theory of work travel.

Julia Fischer and husband Vincent Collazo celebrated the birth of Cassidy Inanna Fischer on Sept. 10, 2019. Julia writes, “Like any couple, we are amazed and in wonder at the fact of the tiny human who has moved in with us, but the most remarkable thing in our case is our collective age. Some jaws dropped when presented with our news, but our focus is on hopefully passing on a bit of the wisdom we may have collected in our combined 112 years of life experience. I’m finding motherhood to be a real joy, and back to working full-time (from home in Brooklyn) while Vincent is able to be a stay-at-home dad. We are very happy!”

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

Hi, all! Happy New Year! We start with Al Viegas, whose eldest daughter, Alessandra ’20, will be graduating this May with a double major in American studies and English. Alessandra is an aspiring playwright. Al’s youngest applied to Wes and a few other NESCACs and “we will know her outcome by April, and of course I am hoping she can continue the legacy as a member of the Class of ’24 . . . crossing our fingers.”

Lawrence Jackson launched the Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts at Johns Hopkins, where he is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of English and History. The BHPLA is conceived to share the resources of the university with Baltimore’s neighborhoods, steward African American archives, and to open up authentic pathways of mutual creativity that help to alleviate the historic socio-economic inequity of the city. Lawrence would love to have Wes classmates from around the region participate; they can also tag donations for BHPLA to JHU, where Elena Weathers ’91 is an officer. On Sept. 12, “we will have our second annual free concert in homage to Billie Holiday in Lafayette Square in Sandtown (always the first Saturday after Labor Day). I won a Guggenheim award in 2019 and am working this year on a book about returning to Baltimore, where I live with my oldest son Nathaniel who is now 15. I am also writing and making digital map presentations about Holiday, Frederick Douglass, and race and American western films.”

Edward Ungvarsky’s wife Olivia Smith ’92 founded Bridges PCS, a public charter school in Washington, D.C., whose mission is inclusive education for children with and without special needs. Bridges is a go-to elementary school for parents whose children have high-level special needs and for parents whose children speak English as a second language. Bridges’ charter was just renewed for another 15 years. “I shared a meal with fellow RA and now frequent marathoner Mark Hsieh when he was in town from Taiwan, our first time together in too many years. Our daughters, Nola and Lena, are teenagers, with the triumphs and trials of teenagers. We were all campaigning for friend Michael Bennet ’87, Hon.’12 in New Hampshire in February.”

Becky Lloyd DesRoches ’90, MA’90, lives in Lexington, Mass., with her husband and two boys, though her eldest is a freshman studying music technology at Carnegie Melon University. Becky loves her job as an assistant professor of psychology at Regis College and works with Heidi Webster. Becky sings in a number of groups. She’s a frequent soloist with the Lexington Pops choir and will tour NYC this spring with the Regis glee club. As at Wes, Becky fills her days with academics, sports, and music. Becky is hoping to release a CD of original music this spring.

After many years of practicing technology law and consulting at big firms, Adam Cohen has launched his own firm, Digital Discipline LLC, providing integrated legal and technical services in cybersecurity, data privacy, information governance, and electronic discovery. He “hopes it will be successful enough to pay tuition for his two kids currently at expensive private universities (not Wesleyan).”

Sarah Townsend, psychotherapist, teacher, and author of Setting the Wire: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis, was recently featured in an interview with NPR. Sarah shares her visceral experience of psychosis after the birth of a child. Listen to it at kpfa.org.

Jessica Mann Gutteridge has been appointed artistic managing director of the Chutzpah! Festival and the Norman Rothstein Theatre, which are operated by the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Jessica is looking forward to bringing exciting performing arts programming to the festival and hopefully seeing old friends as she travels on her search. She is serving on the board of the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, “which is as glittery and fun as it sounds. Last year I participated in the Cultural Leadership Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, working with arts leaders from across North America, in what I like to think of as Hogwarts for artists.” Jessica would love for Wes folk passing through Vancouver to say hi.

Finally, congratulations to Nora Wade (now Wade-Schultz) who wrote in with news that she got married on Aug. 22!

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Eve Fox is helping to tackle our single-use plastic pollution crisis as the digital director of Beyond Plastics, a new effort started by Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator (under President Obama) that’s based at Bennington College. Also, in New England, Erin Falkevitz Almond is married to Steve Almond ’88. They have three kids together, and live outside Boston. Her first novel, Witches’ Dance, is being published this October.

Mia Lipman Irwin and her husband welcomed their daughter, Alma, on June 7. Alma was born two weeks early at almost nine pounds. “She lights up our lives every day (so does our rescue dog, Etta, who’s equal parts jealous and protective of her little sister).” They live in Seattle, where Mia is the director of content at the University of Washington and Chris works as a 3D artist at a video game studio.

Classmates on the move: Kevin Black and his family moved to Madison, Wisc., last year after he and his wife were recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They started their new positions as full professors of physics. After spending his first 18 years in California and his next 23 on the East Coast, they are now living in the Upper Midwest and enjoying their new city.

After 20 years on the East Coast, 20 years in NYC, and 15 years in Harlem, Leevert Holmes, has officially moved back to the West Coast. Although he chose not to return to Los Angeles, (“great place to visit”), he and his wife, Kerri-Ayn Seow, are settling into the Bay Area. Kerri is the new principal of Franklin Elementary School in East San Jose. Leevert is a middle school math teacher at Keys Middle School in Palo Alto. Leevert is looking to engage and connect with Bay Area and West Coast Wesleyan graduates. One of those Bay Area people could be Allegra Jones, who was promoted to special counsel for international law firm Duane Morris LLP. She is working out of the firm’s San Francisco office, Allegra specializes in employment law, civil litigation, and white-collar criminal defense, and her practice recently expanded to include cannabis law (a topic likely of interest to many classmates . . .).

Amelia Rachel Hokule’a Borofsky is winning the geography game. She lives in Hawaii and the Cook Islands. Amelia finished her doctorate in community psychology a while back and runs a consulting company seaofislandsconsulting.com. “Most exciting, I’m now the mother of two daughters, Yinale and Reva, who turn 2 and 1 in September. As a solo super mama of two under 2, I don’t have much time, but am an avid surfing mom (surfingmums.com).” Amelia completed a collaborative short documentary, Our Atoll Speaks, about the island of Pukapuka and indigenous climate knowledge (talcualfilms.com). She shared her update in hopes to network with awesome Wesleyan folks around her projects. “Come visit Hawai’i or send me a virtual message! Mahalo!”

Like your faithful class secretaries, Rachel Afi Quinn didn’t make it to the Reunion. However, she didn’t let that stop her from sharing an update! Rachel is an assistant professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. She just completed a year-long Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and was in NYC for the month of July on a fellowship from the New York Public Library, to do research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture for a second book project. “I hope to have my first book, Dominicana-Dominicana: Visualizing Contemporary Dominican Women’s Lives in Santo Domingo, finalized for publication in the year ahead.”

As for your class secretaries, we’re still in shock that two full decades have passed since we left Middletown. Kevin is a couple of months into a new gig as COO of Quartet Health in New York City. Quartet is working hard to bridge the gap between physical health care and mental health care. That work has already brought him back in touch with Matt Goldstein, who is building out a health care executive search practice at True. Matt is helping Quartet with a couple of C-level talent searches.

C. Darryl Uy | darryl.uy@gmail.com

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com