Class Notes | 1990s

Sean Connell is working as vice president of government and public relations for LAVLE, a U.S.-Japanese joint venture company headquartered in Anacortes, Wash., and which is developing the world’s first solid-electrolyte battery energy storage system for the marine, renewable energy, and defense sectors. Sean is concurrently a senior fellow of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, D.C., a leading organization promoting U.S.-Asia relations, and has been involved over the last few years with the D.C., think-tank community in several projects on economic and innovation policy interrelationships between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. He also serves on the board of directors of the Washington State China Relations Council (currently chaired by Marc Berger ’04), the nation’s leading statewide organization dedicated to promoting stronger commercial, educational, and cultural engagement with China. In his free time, he is wandering trails and climbing glaciers in the North Cascades.

Adam Borden and his wife, Meredith, just returned from Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore with their 12-year-old daughter, Emma, and 10-year-old son, Ian. Driving through the West, the Hamilton recording was their music obsession (thank you, Lin-Manuel ’02!). They also visited the Galapagos Islands this summer, walking among blue-footed booby nests and having an orca pod surface behind the boat. They keep running into Wendy ’01 and Chris Jeffries ’99 in Baltimore because Chris and Meredith serve together on the board of Maryland’s state theater, Center Stage. Adam had dinner with Adam Bakun and his father this spring while in Washington, D.C., on their annual father-son trip and enjoyed an Asian/Peruvian fusion dinner. Adam Bakun and his wife, Ann, live in Boston. As for Adam Borden, he joined SAGE Dining in March as their marketing director. Their campus dining services may be familiar to many WesStudents, as they work with a number of independent schools like Milton, Choate, and Roxbury Latin. He also was appointed to the board of the National Aquarium, Maryland’s most visited attraction and a leading advocate for aquatic conservation.

Sarah Miller Lipton is living in Los Angeles with her husband and two boys, ages 6 and 4, who are about to start kindergarten and pre-k, respectively. Sarah is a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor with a private practice in Santa Monica. She works with her husband who practices interventional pain management and addiction medicine.

Lauren Berliner was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor at University of Washington Bothell, where she teaches media and communication and cultural studies. She is enjoying a year-long sabbatical and has plans to binge-watch all of the TV she missed. She released two books this year with Routledge: Producing Queer Youth: The Paradox of Digital Media Empowerment, and a co-authored volume (with Ron Krabill) Feminist Interventions in Participatory Media Culture: Pedagogy, Publics, Practice.

Cassie Colletti Mecsery and her husband, Sean, were blessed to welcome baby boy, Westley Stephen Charles Mecsery, on March 24.

Jason Becton | jason@mariebette.com

Abby Elbow | aelbow@gmail.com

Hi, Wesleyan peeps. Thanks for sharing your news! It’s always fun and inspiring to find out what’s going on with you.

Andrew Frishman shared: “This summer Alex Jermyn and his wife, Jackie Park, visited with my family on Cape Cod. His two kids and my two kids (both sets aged 6 and 9) had a great time swimming and playing games. We need to start grooming them into the next generation of Wesleyan squash players.

“I think back on the year that I spent as head resident of Butterfield A frequently because Laura Warren ’98, who was one of the resident advisors, lives a few blocks from me and our kids go to school together at Escuela Amigos School in Cambridge, Mass. When I think back on my senior year at Wesleyan so much of it feels deeply informed by my experiences as an HR. I wonder what other RAs and HRs are up to and if there might be an opportunity at a future event to have an informal meet up?

“Hope that all is well with you and that our paths intertwine again soon—please let folks know that if they’re passing through Central Square in Cambridge, I’d be glad to connect.”

Benny Vasquez wrote: “After serving as the co-executive director at the Center for Racial Justice in Education for five years, I transitioned to the inaugural role of chief equity officer at the KIPP foundation (the largest charter school network across the country) in leading their racial justice and equity initiatives across the foundation and the network of 232 schools. I also bought my first home in Nyack, where I live with my husband and 2-year-old Candis!” (Congratulations on the new job, new home! And we know you and your husband are busy, busy, busy with a little one—wow!) Benny adds, “I often see many of my WesFam including—but not limited to—Nicole Rodríguez, Abdul Rashid, Andrea and José DeJesus, María Mirabal, Jeneen García, and am officiating Rachael Rodriguez’s wedding in September!”

Anita Mitra Crabtree is relocating to Singapore from Washington, D.C. “We’re going for my husband’s job at IFC (World Bank) and I hope to be able to continue working from there. I look forward to seeing Ami Doshi the next time she visits and to connecting with Puja Sherwani ’96, who lives there. Merry Weaver ’96 has promised to visit and we look forward to having lots of other visitors, so I’d love to know if any Wes folks are passing through.” We will definitely let you know, Anita!

Derek DiMatteo wrote to us: “I started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu a year ago and love it. I train as a member of the Indiana University BJJ Club. I am a white belt but have participated in a few tournaments in the white belt 170-lb masters age division and done very well, including a third place finish at the Arnold Classic this past spring and a first place finish in Pittsburgh this past July.” He is the managing editor of the academic journal Africa Today and a book that he edited, The Trustees and Officers of IU, Volume III: 1982-2018, was published. “It’s 107,000 words long, contains 147 biographies paired with portraits, and had 51 contributors.” Derek also completed the full draft of his dissertation, which he plans to defend in December and then he plans to graduate in May. Best of luck to you, Derek, and to all of our classmates in academia!

Lauren Porosoff is enjoying writing and presenting full-time. You can find Lauren on Twitter sharing her expertise in education at @laurenporosoff.

Erica Witsell wrote: “My debut novel, Give, was released this summer with a blurb by Professor Emerita Phyllis Rose. I also reconnected with Adriana Dakin ’96, Joshua Polluck ’96, and Jake Waples ’95 at book events in California and Colorado. Erica’s website is ericawitsell.com.

Elizabeth Schneider’s book, Wine for Normal People: A Guide for Real People Who Like Wine, but Not the Snobbery That Goes with It, launched in November. Her book is on Epicurious.com’s fall 2019 list of “must have” cookbooks! Elizabeth is a certified sommelier and hosts a podcast called Wine for Normal People.

Joel Viertel produced The Banker, coming out on AppleTV+ starring Samuel L. Jackson. Congratulations, Joel!

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this update. Andrew Frishman commented, “I do look forward to reading the notes in the magazine—somehow different/better to see them in print rather than fleeting on social media.” We agree! Print media is one of our last ties to an analog world and we’re happy to be a part of it. Take care of yourselves, class of ’97!

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Hello, ’96ers! Just a few updates this time:

Jesse Wegman, his wife, and their two daughters, Sami and Natalya, live in Brooklyn, surrounded in all directions by Wesleyan alumni from all years. He is still on the New York Times editorial board, where he writes about the Supreme Court and legal issues. His first book, Let the People Pick the President, is being published in the spring. It’s an argument in favor of the national popular vote.

Sara and Colby Evans moved to Edinburgh temporarily in February with their children Quinn (11), Malcolm (10), and Ruby (8). They had a great time exploring the city and returned home to Austin, Texas, in time for the school year.

Nina Erlich-Williams writes: “In August, I brought my two kids (ages 11 and 13) to NYC for a few days to give them a taste of life in the Big City—much different from their small-town life in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We were lucky enough to stay with Dara Federman in her lovely Park Slope apartment. One of the highlights of our visit was spending a day with Dara and her two daughters kicking around some of the sites. So fun to get the next generation together!”

Thanks for the news. Keep it coming!

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Katy writes for this issue: As the end of 2019 grows near, we can anticipate the coming of 2020 and our 25th Reunion! As we look forward to getting together face-to-face, I am glad to share news from our classmates to catch us all up.

Wes couples Thy Pham ’97 and Tyler Moriguchi and Min Lee ’97 and Alejandro Santandrea ’97 loaded up their kids into an RV for an eight-day trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Evenings were spent reminiscing about classes, dorms, MoCon, and the student art gallery. Plans are already in the works for an Alaskan adventure. (BTW, Tyler contributed to class notes for the first time—heartily welcomed!)

Julie Zaidler ’95, MA’96 shares: “After completing my Wesleyan education and subsequently receiving an MBA from NYU, I landed in pharmaceutical industry doing market research in immuno-oncology. I lived in NYC for 10 years, and four years ago made a move to the Philadelphia area with my husband and two boys. Still adjusting to suburban life (and travel soccer schedules) but enjoying a somewhat slower pace. I am actually on my way back from vacation in North Carolina as we speak, and we stopped in Virginia to visit Miriam Liss. So good to see good old friends, have the kids meet each other for the first time and reminisce!”

And, speaking of whom, Miriam Liss also wrote: “I am married to Julian Kilmartin ’94. We live in Fredericksburg, Va., with our two kids Daniel (13) and Emily (11). I am a professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington, a public liberal arts college in Fredericksburg. Julian is a school counselor at our local high school. My most recent news is that I published a textbook (with two co-authors) called Psychology of Women and Gender.”

Ken Kwiatkowski now has three boys, Roman, Adam, and Sebastian, and is enjoying life in Jersey City with his lovely wife, Anna.

Eric Meyerson writes “I’m still living in San Francisco with my family, with both of my kids enjoying the chaotic public school system here. Hard to believe I’ve been here 19 years. What happened? I’ve had some wonderful personal Wesleyan reunions this year, including a night out in D.C. with Jason Walta, Seth Kaufman, and Julie Knauer, pho and coffee with Ned Lazarus in Virginia, margaritas with Bill Goldberg ’94 in Maryland, a recent dinner here in San F with Ben Foss, and a night out with Mark Ladov ’94 and his kids in Brooklyn. Career-wise, I made a deliberate move to cleantech this year, given the dire state of the environment and need for rapid modernization. I’m now VP of marketing for Software Motor Company, which makes ultra-efficient electric motors that slash energy demands from heating and ventilating buildings and farms. I’ve been traveling to Wisconsin a lot to support a strategic partner that makes ventilation systems for agriculture. Ask me anything about cows. Moo.”

Lara Tupper shares, “I spent a beautiful summer afternoon in the Berkshires with Mireille Abelin ’96, Chelsea Farley, and families. I’m thrilled to say that I have two books coming out in 2020: Off Island, a novel based on the life of Paul Gauguin, and Amphibians, a linked short story collection. Hope to see all of Clark 4 at the Reunion in May!”

Beth Price writes “I had a great visit with Dawn Peters Weinstein and Dave Weinstein ’94 and their two kids on their way to vacation in Edisto, S.C. They’re living in Cambridge, Mass., where Dawn is a pediatrician and Dave works for Brandeis University.”

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Jason Blalock writes to inform of the passing of one of our classmates, Andrew Berends, who was an accomplished filmmaker.

James Longley’s new feature documentary, Angels Are Made of Light, opened in theaters in July, premiering at Film Forum in NYC and moving on to other cities. The documentary that follows students and teachers in a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, was filmed over a three-year period and was distributed by Grasshopper Film. Read the reviews in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune.

Tonya Singer has co-written a new book, entitled Breaking Down the Wall. The book is aimed at educators to disrupt inequalities for multilingual students.

Samera Syeda Ludwig | samera.ludwig@gmail.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

Greetings from North Carolina! Here’s some of what our classmates are up to:

Chris Osmond became associate director of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at the Reich College of Education of Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., where he is beginning his 10th year on faculty. Visit him!

Chris Cowan writes, “My fun news is that I just became the chair of the department of neuroscience at Medical University of South Carolina.”

Antonia Townshend got married to John Marshall in Washington D.C., 1.5 years post-baby Jack. In attendance were Seth Cousins ’91, Grady Clouse ’90, Todd McNiff, Lucius “Buster” Outlaw, Erica Terry Derryck ’95, and Amy Mayhew. David Derryck was home with their kids, but was represented by Erica.

Ericka Shulman Tullis moved with her husband, Paul, and their daughters, Vivian and Sabine, to Amsterdam. Paul will continue his work as a freelance journalist, Sabine will attend the Dutch National Ballet Academy, and Vivian will attend the Amsterdam International Community School. For her part, Ericka—who recently left UCLA after 14 years as a child health policy analyst and research project manager—plans to focus on learning Dutch and pursuing a new career in equine-assisted psychotherapy.

Karen Powell joined the nonprofit board of Sport Climbing Victoria, as her daughter, Grace Crowley, is a member of the Australian National Sport Climbing Team. She’s looking to connect with any Wes alumni involved in competitive sport climbing organizations, regardless of location. In 2019, they’ve traveled to China, Switzerland, France, and Japan for IFSC competitions including the World Championships in Tokyo (the site of the 2020 Olympics, where sport climbing will debut as an Olympic sport). Karen teaches law and was appointed the JD director at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Many thanks to everyone who sent in their news. Please keep the information coming!

Suzanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Hi, all, and welcome back to the Wesleyan 1992 class notes. You may have noticed that we skipped an issue of notes. I completely missed it, so no blame to Paul, but we are back on track!

Joan Matelli started law school at Northeastern this fall and quickly learned that Elizabeth Bloom ’95 was one of her professors.

Rick Barot’s fourth book of poems, The Galleons, will be published in early 2020.

Jean DiMaria lives in Berkeley, Calif. After 20 years in the hotel industry, she joined RCD Housing, an affordable housing owner and developer, where she works with Alicia Klein ’88. Jean’s son formed a band with his middle school classmates, one of whom is the son of Henry Rawitscher ’91. Also in the Bay Area, Sasha M. Cummings was honored with the 2019 Hon. Ira A. Brown, Jr. Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award by USF School of Law.

Maria Rosa Truglio was promoted to full professor on the faculty in Italian at Penn State. Her son, Tom (27), is in his third year at medical school in Philadelphia, and her other son, Anthony (28), is exploring career options in linguistics and coding. Maria also got engaged to her partner Greg. In other promotion news, Andrew Springman was promoted to web application development manager at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Lucy Hutner just launched a startup that she co-founded. The site, Phoebe, provides a personalized road map for pregnancy and postpartum—check it out at phoebe.nyc.

Teresa Van Hoy ’92, MA’91 premiered a documentary film at the Arizona International Film. The film followed her students’ quixotic quest to repatriate the leg of Santa Anna seized by Illinois soldiers 175 years ago during the Mexican-American War. The students’ 2,000-mile weekend road trip made the front page of the Wall Street Journal two days before Donald Trump was elected. You can learn more at newday.com/film/25-texans-land-lincoln.

Dan Fortmann is the export manager for SCX design, an importer of promotional merchandise across Europe, Russia, Lebanon, Dubai, and Pakistan. He is in his second year singing with the volunteer Chœur de l’Orchestre de Paris, and spent the summer on tour.

Nancy McLoughlin is associate professor of medieval European history at UCI, is still rowing, and reports that she “has the best dog in the world.”

And in closing, Laura Hill and Marc Kunney ’91 dropped their daughter off at Wesleyan in August to start her first year in Clark Hall.

That’s the new for now. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Adam Berinsky | berinsky@mit.edu 

Paul Coviello | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

Hi, all! Very quiet this time around, but we do have big news from Ben Klau and Joan Gundersen Klau. So great to hear from them that “at a time when notes from our class are typically filled with news of our classmates’ children heading off to high school and college,” Ben and Joan “are proud to announce the birth of their second daughter, Hannah Rose Klau, born on May 29. The whole family, including Hannah’s big sister, Avery, 4, went on an extended East Coast summer tour in August, which included visits with Meg Steele Barker in Bath, Maine, and Amy Robins, who lives in Joan’s hometown of Milton, Mass.”

Since we have extra space, I thought I would throw out the fact that our 30th Reunion is next spring. I so clearly remember moving into Foss 7 in 1986 that I find it hard to believe that so many years have passed. More information will be coming and I’m hoping to hear from lots of you as we move toward this next milestone.

Right before printing, we were saddened to learn that our classmate David Bucci passed away on Oct. 15. David’s obituary can be found here. We send our condolences to his friends and family, including his wife Catherine “Katie” Hancur and his three children, Joshua, Ava, and Lila, and welcome any memories that people would like to share in an upcoming edition of the notes.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Huge thanks to Kate Whitman Annis, Morley Cleary, Shashi Kumarashekhara, Hong Qu, Bozoma Saint John, Ellen Sluder, Jose Stevenson, Lauren Tobias, and Frantz Williams for serving on the committee that organized our 20th Reunion! The committee reported that “it was a big weekend for our class. Not only did many of our classmates participate on WESeminar panels (including Jessica Sanders and Carl Robichaud) but two of our classmates, Tommy Kail and Bozoma Saint John, received Distinguished Alumni Awards recognizing stellar achievements in their professions. After a welcome reception for the class on Friday night in the former Davenport Campus Center—which is no longer permeated by the smell of Otis Spunkmeyer cookies—the celebration continued at Eclectic into the wee hours.

“Saturday brought gorgeous weather for relaxing on Foss Hill, where many of us caught up with each other and our families. Saturday night was our class dinner, held on the President’s lawn. Shashi Kumarashekhara and Monisha Nariani served as our emcees, with guest appearances by Frantz Williams, Barbara-Jan Wilson, President Michael Roth ’78, and a very drunk alumnus from the Class of 2014. Ellen Sluder received a Wesleyan Service Award and did her best to document the night for the class Facebook page, where you can see video and pics: facebook.com/groups/Wes99. After good food, great conversation, and excellent music curated by Bryan Skowera, those who still had energy headed to the big tent and danced until the party shut down at 1 a.m. (not bad for a bunch of 40-somethings!). Sunday offered recovery-brunch food and a chance to say final hellos and farewells, as we all promised to do it again in five years’ time.”

Leila Buck had a great time connecting with classmates at Reunion, and was proud of ’99 closing down the dance party! She is performing in America Dreams, an interactive theatrical event that invites audiences into a game show run by the U.S. government where you decide who will be our newest citizen. The show is booking its Red State/Swing State 2020 Tour, designed to engage communities around the country in exploring whom we trust, what we fear, and what we really believe it means to be(come) U.S. citizens. If you live in a red or swing state and want to bring them to your community, contact info@americandreamsplay.com.

Eli Beckerman has launched a cross-partisan organization to open up the political debates—and political system—of our nation to new ideas, fresh voices, and better choices. Open the Debates is working with the Mediators Foundation and the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers to elevate and transform our political discourse. He would love to hear from others interested in political reform. He’s also the tired and proud papa of a rambunctious toddler, Maya.

In June, Jada Shapiro married her dear Wesleyan friend and next-door neighbor in Butt C, Dan Ryan. Dan and Jada have been blending their families for a few years and are now the parents and stepparents of four girls, ages 9-13. She just launched her second company, boober (getboober.com) where expectant and new parents can find all their #pregnancytopostpartum care (think lactation consultants, doulas, pelvic floor therapists, mental health therapists, pre/postnatal massage, and more). Boober grew out of Birth Day Presence, launched in 2002, which provides childbirth classes to expectant parents in NYC. They live in Brooklyn, where every day is a Wesleyan reunion (there are three Wes couples alone on their block).

Although Michael Hakim’s family of five-going-on-six and their nanny were forced to evacuate their home in Malibu, Calif., due to the Woolsey wildfire, they are so appreciative and reminded of what life is all about—health, friends, and family. Michael writes, “Life changes rapidly and we are thankful. We’re balancing creativity and investments and wearing multiple hats in an ever-changing world. We’re living life in the moment and never looking back!” Glad that you and your family are safe, Michael!

Chad Bartell loves steel drums and the musical Hamilton. He first heard steel drums at a party during our first-year orientation at Wes and it changed his life. During his time at Wes, he met Bill Sherman ’02 (producer of the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton) and Tommy Kail. Check out the Wes alumni Facebook page to see a video of Chad’s band Panchromatic Steel performing his arrangement of “Wait for It” from Hamilton.

Finally, Jeffrey Blumenthal submitted the shortest update, “I got married, as promised.” He married Amelia Letvin, a geothermal geologist from Michigan. Congrats, Jeff!

Kevin and I were bummed that we weren’t able to attend Reunion, but we hope to see you at our 25th. In the meantime, be good, be safe, and be in touch!

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

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Arshad Chowdhury moved to Hong Kong last August after 20 years in Brooklyn. Asia, where travel is easy and the weather is balmy, has been great so far. He’s investing in early-stage companies throughout the region and, wow, there’s a lot going on. He’s not sure Asia is the best place to be to endure the eco-collapse, though, so they’ll probably return to the States within a few years.

Tom Cleary and his brother have started a new technology dental benefits company, Cirrus Dental, that allows dental offices to offer a subscription dental service at a fraction of the cost of traditional insurance. He and his wife, Morley Silver Cleary ’99, are working on bringing their three children to all 50 states before they apply to Wesleyan (34 down).

Patricia Selcke Grad finally caught up with her good friend Grace Wang Colman ’99 in Princeton, N.J. They hope to get together again in Pawling, N.Y. She reports no major changes since the 20th Reunion last year. She enjoys being a mom, lives on the Upper West Side, and works at Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity fund. She is in her third year as chair of the board of AMIGOS (amigosinternational.org), a nonprofit organization providing summer immersion and gap programs in Latin America.

Josh Rosenblatt published a book, Why We Fight: One Man’s Search for Meaning Inside the Ring, a memoir about his transition from self-proclaimed pacifist to trained mixed-martial-arts fighter.

It is with deep sadness that we report the passing of James Kamm ’92, president of Alpha Delt and Wesleyan employee for 10 years. Jim was previously married to Ellen Struzziero. He leaves two beautiful daughters, Eliza, 13, and Scarlett, 11, residents of Farmington, Conn., and both alumni of the Neighborhood Preschool at Wesleyan. The girls have beautiful memories of the times they spent with their father at Wesleyan.

As for me (Abby), I’ve been following in my grandfather’s stellar tradition, traveling around Alaska in my 1983 VW Westfalia on weekends in between working as a nurse with Alaska Native moms and babies, and getting to have other amazing Alaskan adventures, such as five days helping at a checkpoint for the 2019 Iditarod. And hoping to hear from many more of you as we head into Reunion!

Jason Becton | jason@mariebette.com

Abby Elbow | aelbow@gmail.com