Class Notes | 1990s

Greetings and salutations from Paul in D.C., where nothing (and I mean nothing) is normal. Luckily just down the road is a sign of light—the 25th Reunion where we can all gather to talk about anything else. I’m already psyched up, and the posts on our Facebook page suggest I’m not alone. If you haven’t done so already, join our page, Wesleyan University Class of 1992. Folks are planning pre-events and there’s an effort to round up some duffers to play some golf. Please just tell Sam Longley that high score does not win.

Christopher F. Arndt ’92 argues that conservatism is not what it pretends to be and that the American Right created Donald Trump in The Right’s Road to Serfdom: The Danger of Conservatism Unbound: From Hayek to Trump (Bulkington Press).

In case you need some ice-breaker material on the latest from your classmates:

In November, Jeff Kipnis and Lightning Squirrel, along with other comic book creators, participated in a fundraising effort for Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Center, a nonprofit agency that delivers advanced disease management and quality end-of-life care. Proceeds benefit patients and families served by BHH.

Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design, by E. Shura Pollatsek ‘92, with photographs by Mitchell D. Wilson, is out now from Routledge Press.

Doni Gewirtzman, law professor at NYU, made his CNN debut in January to explain the powers given to the president and answer the question of what Trump can and cannot do legally. I’m thinking he may be asked to come back…often.

Bill Kim, oncologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also hit the TV. He runs a research lab that was featured on 60 Minutes for their work with IBM Watson and how to apply artificial intelligence technology to cancer genomics and patient care. Search for “Robot Sofia” on the CBS News website and you can see him about 10 minutes into the episode.

A Tilted World, a book of poems by Carol Gabrielson Fine MALS ’92, is out now from Antrim House Books.

After two years of living in London, Anne Paris and family are back in Oregon, where she is teaching art, writing, and getting deeply involved in local activism in Portland. Speaking of Brexit (OK, that was a stretch), Simon Fulford, his wife, Clare, who he married in 2016, and his sons, Max and Alec, also recently relocated from London to Portland. For the past six years, Simon ran the UK arm of a South African NGO, Khulisa (khulisa.co.uk), delivering high-impact, short-duration violence-reduction and offender rehabilitation programs in English prisons and schools.

Sasha Cummings accepted an appointment at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as a circuit mediator and is an adjunct professor at USF School of Law teaching civil procedure and mediation.

Joan Matelli took a break from her year of wanderlust to canvass for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire with Ilana Wind Newell ’94. After the holidays she hit road for a week in Cuba with William Kirsner ’91.

Karl Mergenthaler lives in Westport, Conn., with wife Stephanie, and their two kids, Camille and Elise. He got together for dinner with Christine Padian Bolzan, who is heading up the committee for our Reunion. Christine also serves on the President’s Council.

Chris Arndt and his wife, Patty, and their two children, Alden and Graham, moved from NYC to Telluride, Colo., two years ago. He recently published his first book, The Right’s Road to Serfdom, The Danger of Conservatism Unbound: From Hayek to Trump. He also had a piece in Guardian Liberty Voice that mentioned Wesleyan.

Mike Gaddis has been named a principal at Fish & Richardson in the intellectual property litigation group. His practice includes complex business litigation, with a particular focus on trade secret litigation and qui tam/whistleblower litigation.

Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley teaches Chinese history at San Diego State University.  Kathryn is married to an American Baptist pastor, Van Tarpley, and they have two boys, Peter and Isaac.

So you’re now caught up. Make your reservation and we will see you at Reunion.

Adam Berinsky | berinsky@mit.edu 

Paul Coviello | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

April Cotte lives on the beach in Pacifica, Calif., with her partner, a retired firefighter, and their 6-year-old, Barry. April homeschools using Hand in Hand Parenting and Deep Nature Connection Mentoring. For 15 years, she facilitated Outward Bound wilderness and cross-cultural expeditions for adults in the northern Chihuahuan desert along the Texas/Mexico border and Copper Canyon. Along the way, she built relationships with local Jumano-Apache residents and knowledge keepers. She continues to support indigenous relations and protect their way of life. April enjoyed the recent visits of Gayatri Gopinath and Tacy Trowbridge ’90.

Julie Yannatta writes, “Some of you took, or remember, the Kundalini yoga class I taught on the lawn in front of Olin at Reunion. Well, my adventures in yoga continue, including teaching at Stars, Space and the Future, a conference in Turks and Caicos in August. I also have a record label called Be Why and we released an album of yogic mantra called, White Sun II, by the artist White Sun. White Sun II was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Age Album.

Nik Bates-Haus had a great time seeing so many people at Reunion, including Michael Reinke, Spencer Boyer (and his lovely wife, Clare Stroud, and their adorable children), Robin Ekiss, Erin Branagan, Adam Hahn, Stuart Rockoff, Kerim May ’93, Alisa Rosen, Elizabeth Reifke, and special guest, Canaan Folk-Reinke, born at Wes in 1991. Nik hung out at Malcom X house, caught one of the final shows at Eclectic, and I think we can all agree with his statement: “Wow, do today’s students have it great with the midnight grilled cheese truck!”

In December, the Healthy School Food Maryland coalition, which Lindsey Parsons coordinates, released School Food Environment Grades for every public school district in the state of Maryland. Check it out at healthyschoolfoodmd.org/2016_grades.php.

Out in my hometown of Chicago, Craig Mannarino has been accepted as a fellow into the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Membership is limited to 500 U.S. fellows under the age of 70. Craig’s areas of expertise include medical malpractice, automobile negligence, pharmaceutical mass torts, and other catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.

Some Perfect Year, by Cameron Gearen ’91, is a book of poems out now from Shearsman Books.

Ann Goebel-Fabbri started her own private psychology practice. Leaving Joslin Diabetes Center gave her the flexible time to write Prevention and Recovery from Eating Disorders in Type 1 Diabetes: Injecting Hope (Routledge Press) in February. It’s based on interviews conducted with 25 women in recovery, and you can find it on Amazon.

Some great news: Jim Adolf published his first play, I Cannot Tell a Lie at George Washington School. It’s been performed in Maine and Michigan.

Justin Bass, who made sure I heard the original version of “Don’t Walk Away Renée” our frosh year, now lives in Berlin, where he’s moved to teach English. He plans to stay until sometime in 2018, perhaps longer. He’d love to reconnect with any Wes alumni passing through!

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

Class of 1990 Scholarship 

Kathryn Toner ’20, Doylestown, PA

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! Here’s the latest from our class.

Alfredo Viegas has been back to Wes a few times this year because his daughter, Alessandra ’20, started in September. Al got a surprise at the Alumni-Legacy reception when he ran into Shawn ’88 and Ellen Burgess ’88, as “Shawn had been my freshman RA in Butterfield C, and his daughter, Ramsay ’20, was also starting. It was great seeing Shawn and Ellen again and knowing that the Wes legacy continues for our kids.

Two major announcements come from Joy Challenger. First, in May, Joy graduated with a D.Min. from Duke University’s Divinity School in Durham, N.C. Second, in September, Joy married Brian Slaughter on Martha’s Vineyard at the home of classmate Denise Jefferson Casper. Joy has moved to the D.C./Northern Virginia part of the country.

Carol Lynne Booth is the director at Jewish Baby Network, a small nonprofit outreach organization that builds community connections for Jewish families with babies and toddlers in the Bay Area. “We have really expanded our programs and community partners and just added an SF chapter. We host a variety of events at many different Jewish institutions as a way to connect families to each other and to the wider Jewish community. I meet wonderful people, help them make friends and find their place while holding lots of babies, so I am having a great time!”

Carol’s other piece of big news is that she and her husband, David Booth ’91, will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this June. “So crazy! Our days of running around Wes together do not feel that long ago, so I guess it is true that time flies when you are having fun. Continuing the milestone theme, my son, Josh, is living in Seattle and will be 21 in March. My daughter, Naomi, just turned 18 and most likely heads off to college in the fall, and my daughter, Maytal, is now 15 and just got her driver’s permit. It makes me realize that I must be getting older and leaves me wondering where the time has gone. I wish the whole class of ’90 a very healthy and Happy New Year!”

Amy Morgenstern spent the second half of 2016 on sabbatical in Oaxaca, Mexico, with her wife and 9-year-old daughter, “all of us making lots of art, writing, and improving our Spanish. Then, as tempting as it was to stay outside the United States forever, it was back to my work as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, where I’ve been for 13 years.”

Victor Khodadad is a recent co-founder of New Camerata Opera, which is a new opera company based in New York City. NCO produced its first main stage production, The Count of Luxembourg and Other Tales: A Viennese Pastiche, in October, which played to rave reviews and sold-out audiences. Victor was invited to give a TEDx Talk in December about innovation in the arts which featured New Camerata Opera. More information is available at newcamerataopera.org.

Ben Robertson continues to live in Keene, N.H., where he is working as a Web designer with his company Menadena. Interested classmates can learn more about Ben’s work at menadena.com.

Finally, I just heard from Lara Laurence, for whom the Women’s March in D.C. turned into a Wesleyan event. “First, on my Amtrak train heading south, the woman sitting across from me turned out to be a Wes grad from the Class of 1980—too bad I never asked for her name. Then, in D.C., my daughter, a sophomore at Bryn Mawr, Colleen McKiernan ’89, and I stayed with Ladeene Freimuth ’89. After the march, my daughter and I headed to Sarah Leavitt’s (’92) house for dinner. Also, there were Michelle Elisburg ’92, Jessica Feierman ’92, and Susannah Beals-Simon ’92.”

That’s all for now.  Thank you to those who wrote. As always, please e-mail me anytime with news.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Jessica Sanders was interviewed by Girl Talk HQ to discuss her 2010 documentary, March of the Living, which tells the tale of the last generation of Holocaust survivors who traveled to Poland to retrace the death march from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

Chad Bartell lives in Madison, Wis., working as an in-house counsel with Springs Window Fashions, LLC, a national manufacturer and seller of window covering products. He and his wife, Julie, have two boys: Nolan (8) and Sawyer (7). He finds time to make music, playing drums, and steelpan in several projects. Chad visited Paul Stewart in Portland, Ore., and talked wistfully of their old Wes band, Uncle Trouble, and about possibly reuniting for our 20th Reunion!

Ursula Ogno Sfraga lives in Fairfield, Conn., with her two sons and works in New York City as a senior account director for a digital marketing agency. She attended the Wesleyan Writers Conference this summer on a scholarship for a nonfiction manuscript she submitted. In April 2015, she was a doula to Meredith Tobias Powers ’00, and her husband, John Powers, for the birth of their daughter, Clementine Catherine.

Julenne Farrar Mounts lives in Maui with her husband, Dwight, and two kids, Zoë (9) and Luke (6). They see Stefan Schaefer ’94 and family often as their daughters are in the same class at Haleakala Waldorf School. Julenne’s family spent the summer outrigger paddling, playing with their new puppy, Comet, camping, and building a school store named The Pepper Tree on the Waldorf campus. They will return to the East Coast for the winter holidays and spend time with Julenne’s housemates from 27 Brainerd: Rachel Ostrow, Hannah Gladstein, and Alissa Farber.

Michael Hakim and his wife, Aram, have two daughters, Skyler and Lexington. He is a real estate investor and travel documentarian.

Lindsay Grajewski Beros lives in Rochester, Mich., with her husband and three kids. In addition to her obstetrician-gynecologist practice, Lindsay began studying photography after the birth of her second child. In July, her portfolio was accepted to Click Pro, a network of professional photographers and independent artists. She is now a frequent contributor to the photography blog, Click Pro Daily Project.

Sean Huse and his wife, Ali, have three boys (ages 7, 5, and 2). Sean is in his 18th year at Public Consulting Group in Boston. They see their Wes friends in and around Boston: Geoff Dailey, Tim Higgins, Madhu Kannapiran, Avery Esdaile ’00, Sean O’Brien ’00, Matt Hochstein ’00, Josh Meyer ’00, Joe Griffin ’00, Josh Janelli ’01, Bryan McBeth ’02, and Brandon McBeth ’02. Sean ran into Pete Czerepak in August and they made plans for a beer with Geoff Dailey and Tim Syrett. They all work on the same street within 100 yards of each other.

Divya Kumar and Dan Koulomzin live in Jamaica Plain with their two kids (Anand, 9, and Josie, 7). Divya provides perinatal support at Southern JP Health Center as part of a state-funded postpartum depression pilot program she helped create. She continues to help improve perinatal mental healthcare as a member of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Commission on Postpartum Depression. Last summer, she presented at the Minority Mental Health Summit in Birmingham and had an article on racism and microaggressions in new moms’ groups published on The Huffington Post.

After 11 years as a case manager for kids with developmental disabilities, Jen Massie went back to school to get her second master’s (first was social work) in behavioral health. She spent a year studying perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and how to integrate treatment in a culturally sensitive fashion into a primary healthcare setting. Jen is expecting her first baby this fall.

And more new additions: Danielle Lazier gave birth to twins, Ari and Phoenix, on Aug. 12. She lives in San Francisco selling residential real estate as a broker-owner with Keller Williams San Francisco. Diana Glanternik and her husband, Jonah Cohen, welcomed their first daughter, Ila Lucia Cohen, on Sept. 2. Farrah Darbouze, her wife, Jessica Heard, and their dog, Idgy, welcomed their son, Jordan Thomas Heard, in March. On July 1, Valerie Leon gave birth to her first child, William Mateo Cuadrado, Jr. She works for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

On Aug. 21, Mia Lipman married Chris Irwin in Seattle, where she’s been living since 2011. It was a perfect day with family and friends, including Kate Holbein Rademacher, Josh Dubansky ’01, and Shanna Handel.

Erik Rueter is director of marketing and communications for Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa. Erik enjoys working at W&J because it evokes many memories of Wesleyan.

Arthur Baraf lives in Pawtucket, R.I., with his wife and two daughters. This is his 11th year as a principal at the Met High School. He was named a Students at the Center Distinguished Fellow.

Shoshanna Cole lives in Ithaca, N.Y. She completed her PhD in planetary geology at Cornell last year and now teaches physics, astronomy, planetary science, and sustainable energy at Ithaca College. She’s involved in the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty Union and volunteers as a master gardener with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. This summer she organized a gathering of Ithaca-area alumni, ranging from the 1970s through the 2010s! They had an indoor picnic and then watched a local production of In the Heights.

Kenny Rios completed his master’s in human resource management with a concentration in organization development. He works as a senior technical recruiter for the Pentagon.

Jason Wong and Pao-Lin Tien moved to the D.C. area this summer. Jason works for a biotech firm and Pao-Lin works for the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Their two girls (Zoe, 6, and Emma, 1) are happy to have daddy home all the time now.

Alex Rose and her husband, Dan, live in Boulder, Colo., where Alex works as a bird biologist and education and outreach specialist at the University of Colorado. They have a 2-year-old son and another on the way. They annually trek to the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska for fun and research. In Boulder, Alex is neighbors and friends with Sarah Elmendorf and her family, and had a fun visit with her freshman year roommate, Eve Andrias.

Laura Zaks spent Labor Day visiting Louisville, Ky., to celebrate the 40th birthday of her freshman roommate Virginia Gray. They celebrated with Rachel Ostrow, Jesse Ashlock, Jason Daniel Schwartz ’00, Wiley Bowen ’00, Harrison Owen ’98, and Juliet Gray ’92.

Ed. note: Our apologies to Russell Isaacson. We spelled his last name incorrectly in the previous issue and regret our error.

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

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Jason writes for this issue: Most of us are celebrating our 40th birthdays this year. Who would have believed time would go by so fast? At Ian Tamayo’s 40th birthday party in New York City, I got to see my great friend, Maier Negugogor, who is living in Connecticut and has started a private practice in immigration law. I also got to see Chotsani Sackey who is living in New York City and working for a technology company.

Here’s what’s going on with some other fellow classmates:

Amy Barnes writes, “I’ve been happily living in the great Pacific Northwest (Redmond, Wash.) for the last couple of years with my fiancé, Noel Anderson, and our beautiful baby girl, Sarah (born last year). I’m enjoying my new role at AKT Wealth Advisors while nourishing my liberal arts spirit with writing workshops and volunteer work. Our Seattle Wes community lost a great friend and leader with the passing of Nick Waltner ’86.”

Dorothy Warner writes, “I live in Belmont, Mass., with my son, Alexander, who regularly and excitedly declares that he loves kindergarten (and Minecraft). We love biking to his school. I work with kids and adults as a clinical psychologist in Newton. I often see Becca Gerner and Hans Schroder ’99. In addition to world peace and an end to poverty, my hopes for the future include another Clinton presidency with Sanders in the Cabinet and getting to see Hamilton.”

Sarah Miller Lipton is living in LA with her husband, Glenn, and their two boys, Emmett (3 years old) and Ezra (22 months). Sarah works part-time as a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, aka “physiatrist,” in Santa Monica, focusing primarily in electrodiagnostic medicine.

Nancy Shane writes, “I just completed my PhD in aerospace sciences at the University of North Dakota. My research focused on the background, experience, and qualifications of pilots entering the regional airline industry. I also made a big move to the Midwest, where I am now the director of pilot sourcing and industry outreach at Endeavor Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. So far Minneapolis has been fantastic, although winter hasn’t hit yet. I know I have a fantastic new parka in my future.”

Patrick Butler writes, “I got married in April (featured in The New York Times), and Michael Van Nimwegen got ordained to officiate the wedding. He broke his arm at my bachelor party in Alaska in February, and still managed to look good in a tux just six weeks later.”

Brodie Welch celebrated the 13th anniversary of her Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinic in Corvallis, Ore. Her new podcast, A Healthy Curiosity, which explores what it takes to be well in a busy world, will help your commute fly by. (You can find it on iTunes.) She’s also enjoying helping her full-time step-kids navigate eighth and 12th grade. Marrying a widower four years ago, she managed to skip over the sticky toddler years.

Justin Pidot spends most of his time in Denver, where he received tenure at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. This fall, he is on a leave of absence from academia and has joined the Obama administration, where he serves as the deputy solicitor for land resources at the Department of the Interior. It’s quite a change in pace, and he’s having a great time in D.C.

Abe Forman-Greenwald traveled to Liberia to film a short documentary focused on First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to promote her Let Girls Learn initiative. Letgirlslearn.gov is dedicated to improving education opportunities for the 62 million girls around the world who are not in school.

Margaret Salazar has exciting news: “I am honored that Oregon Governor Kate Brown has asked me to serve as director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, our state housing agency. I look forward to leading the agency to expand housing opportunities for Oregonians in need.”

In March, Rebecca Alson-Milkman and Craig Thomas ’97 welcomed their second baby, nine years after her brother, Elliot. Celia Genevieve Thomas is named in memory of Rebecca’s mother, Sheila, and for the patron saint of Paris.

Marcus Chung | marcusbchung@gmail.com 

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com

It’s hard to believe that almost 20 years have passed since that rainy day in May of 1997 when we bid our farewells and moved on and out to the wide, wacky, post-Wes world. And it’s not too early to start making plans to join us for Reunion & Commencement Weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, May 25 to 28. We’d love to see you there!

Thank you to everyone who shared their latest news or just e-mailed to say hi.

Michelle Conceison writes in from Nashville where she’s moved her music marketing and management company, Market Monkeys. They manage Canadian songwriter Rose Cousins and pop/folk duo Fortunate Ones. Michelle is the president of the board of directors of Folk Alliance International and teaches at Northeastern. “I am part of a dream team launching a new online arts administration graduate program. This fall I will be teaching Strategic Planning in Arts & Cultural Organizations.” She’d love to connect with any Wes alums in the area.

Melissa Feldberg Whipps writes to us from Syracuse, where she is the director of foundation relations at Syracuse University. “We have been enjoying a beautiful Central New York summer and I am pursuing my master’s in public administration at the Maxwell School at Syracuse.” She’s also a mom to two daughters, Evelyn (5) and Amelia (7). Her husband, Chris, is an associate professor of biology at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse.

Sasha Harris-Cronin is living in San Francisco with her partner, Nathan Taylor, and their 4-year-old, Shannon Harris-Taylor. Sasha has spent the last 14 years making interactive museum exhibits and leading edge installations for museums and corporations around the country. She just finished one of her favorite projects to date, which allowed her to work with the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. As she explains, “Together, we created a tactile control interface that allows folks with any range of sight to control audio and video equipment in complex conference rooms.” Sasha also teaches interaction design in the MFA program at California College of the Arts.

Matt Mulvey and his wife, Katie Sacksteder, became parents to Liam James Mulvey. Matt and Katie are also leading their immuno-oncology company, BeneVir Biopharm, Inc., into the first-in-human testing of their lead cancer killing virus T-Stealth.

Aileen Nagle McDonough runs a communications business in the Providence area, 3am Writers. This year, she spoke at WordCamp RI, a WordPress conference for developers, designers, and business owners all over New England. She also stopped by Wesleyan, when she was in Middletown to trace her ancestry in the Connecticut-based Schaghticoke Native American tribe. She and her husband, Kirk, traveled to Toronto for the final tour of the Tragically Hip.

From LA, Madeleine Perez writes, “After many years as a journalist at ABC News in New York, I switched careers and coasts and became a real estate agent. I’ve been in LA now for more than four years with my husband and almost 5-year-old son. If any Wesleyan people are looking for some real estate help in SoCal they can reach me at madeleine@kw.com.”

As for your class secretaries, we are happy to report that we got to hang out in NYC when Jess came to visit from Phoenix. Also, Jess is thrilled to have a book recommendation to share: “I read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and couldn’t put it down!” Sasha is obsessed with the Moth podcast, which consists of “people telling short true stories—Some are dark, some are funny, many are both.”

We can’t wait to see all of you in May! We wish you a peaceful start to 2017 and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Dacque writes for this issue: Candace Nelson writes that her confectionery chain, Sprinkles Cupcakes, has found a spot in the new Disney Springs. Sprinkles began with its first location in 2005 and has since grown to a total of 14 locations across the U.S. In 2012, Sprinkles debuted its one-of-a-kind “Cupcake ATM” that dispenses several varieties of freshly baked frosted cupcakes with 24-hour convenience.

The 1994 Wesleyan women’s soccer team was inducted into the Hall of Fame. As the most successful in program history, that Cardinal team finished 12-4-1 that season, while claiming the ECAC New England Division III Championship. Flo Stueck led the team with 15 goals and five assists for a total of 35 points. Other class of ’96 members include: Amy Costa, Esme Finlay, and Kate Treveloni.

Jayme Peta writes about the completion of a PhD in clinical psychology as of August and the start of post-doctoral fellow with Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. She is co-author of a new book: The Gender Quest Workbook: A Guide for Teens and Young Adults Exploring Gender Identity, published by New Harbinger this past spring.

Mary Pagones is proud to announce that she has published a third novel, Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion, now available on Amazon.

Joel Levin decided to buy himself out of EdTech startup life and return to the classroom. He just started a new job at an independent school in Manhattan teaching technology classes to kids with learning disabilities.

Elena Pavloff had a mini-Wesleyan and Alpha Delta Phi reunion at Lynn Cartwright-Punnett ’07’s in Philadelphia. She got to hang out with Amanda Bennett and other alumni—a fun time was had by all.

Lastly, Sam, Topher, and Koyalee were thrilled to see so many of you this spring at Reunion, when 160 alumni came to Middletown and partied hard. This number is huge—blowing the previous attendance record by nearly 40 alumni. And, for those of you who couldn’t make it, there was a virtual reunion of literally hundreds of photos posted on our Facebook page (Wesleyan University – Class of 1996 for those of you who haven’t joined).

The spirit of the Class of 1996 is undeniable. Set your calendars for an even bigger Reunion in 2021! We will all travel there in our self-driving cars.

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Hi from your new class co-secretaries: Bo Bell and Katy McNeill! We’re delighted to take the baton from former secretary, Dwayne Busby. Thanks again, Dwayne, for your many years of service! This is a fun way for us to help everyone in our class to keep in touch with each other from all our various locations, with Bo from his home in New York and Katy from her (new) home in the U.K. Here’s the news this round and we look forward to keeping in touch with you into the future!

Bo writes, “I’m living in the town of Cold Spring in the lower Hudson Valley of New York and working in New York City, leading the digital team for an advertising agency. My wife and I are raising two fun kids, a hound dog, and a small flock of chickens. I semi-regularly meet up with Mike Kleinsteuber over burgers and beers at the Old Town Bar near Union Square, and caught up with Kiersten Miller on her annual summer visit back to NYC from her home in Rome, and with Ben Harbert ’97 and Alison Brody ’97 on a work jaunt to D.C. Finally, huge shout out to Michelle Duff, Liz Fernandez, Rachel Hunt, and the rest of the 1994 ECAC Champion Wes Womens’ Soccer team, 2016 inductees to the Wesleyan Sports Hall of Fame!”

Rob Armstrong writes, “I’ve been living in London for close to three years now, where I write editorials for the Financial Times. When you write anonymously, no one knows you’re American. My twins are 7 and have no accents. I am, despite their efforts, in touch with my former housemates, Russell Agle and Jen Quest-Stern, who have turned out better than anyone expected. If any of you are in town, let’s have a pint.”

David Biello writes, “I’m publishing my first book in November. It’s called The Unnatural World. It’s about the idea that humans have started to make changes on a planetary scale, like the glaciers of an Ice Age or an asteroid crashing into Earth, and what we might do with this new knowledge of our world-changing impacts.” A link to purchase can be found here. “I’m still married and have a daughter and son who are growing like weeds. I got a new job as the science curator for TED Talks, hoping to help spread some good ideas.”

Matt Duffy writes, “I am still out in Oakland. I just started a new job as the superintendent of schools for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, a public school district of 30,000 students in the East Bay, centered around Richmond, Calif. Crazy and amazing! My boys are now 5 and 8, and life is very full.”

Alexis Greeves writes, “I’m living in Minneapolis, working as a mental health therapist for deaf and hard of hearing children. I have a small private practice (hopenandhealingmn.com). David and I have two daughters and are trying to figure out what it means to be raising Midwestern children.”

Ana Maria Kleymeyer writes, “A couple of years ago, I moved back to the D.C. area, where I finished producing a music documentary and continued my work on international climate change negotiations. I’m enjoying the schizophrenic life of a musician/lawyer who refuses to give up the groove.”

Anne Bellows Lee writes, “I am in Santa Monica with my husband, Greg Lee, my two little girls (3 and 5), and three big cats. Working at UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs as a research projects director in substance abuse treatment, also working on getting my LCSW license.”

Michelle Sachs Limaj writes, “All is well in Massachusetts. I took a great job in-house for one of my clients, Agenus, an immuno-oncology company. My kids see a lot more of me, which is extra good because Idriz (whom you’ll recall I brought home with me after the 1999 war in Kosovo, without a college degree or even good English) is now COO for a system of four hospitals in Baltimore. So he commutes home for the weekends, and the rest of us chill M–F on Mommy Time.”

Brandon Patton writes, “My wife had a baby this year, Sylvia Pearl Patton Schroeder. Emily Essley also had a baby earlier this year, Lily Rose Essley.”

Lisa Hastings Rosenman writes, “Burt Rosenman and I celebrated our 17th anniversary this year. We live in western Massachusetts with our two daughters, Hannah, 11, and Leah, 14. Burt is a biology professor at Western New England University, and I’m a school librarian in Hartford.”

Christianne Meneses Jacobs writes, “My only news is that I traveled to the East Coast this summer. I visited with Lauren Sitzer Avery and her family in Boston. Hung out with Ryan Knox in New Haven and we watched Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention while drinking wine. I also stayed with Jeff Levinson and his wife in New York. It was also awesome to see Mark Quinones and his wife, Rachel, when they were visiting Arizona.”

Ethan de Seife writes, “My wife, Laura, and I welcomed a son, Levon Ray, in August 2015. He is cute and round-headed, and he loves to watch birds. When he was about 9 months old, we packed up everything—dog, cats, nursery, a million books and records—and moved from Burlington, Vt., to Santa Rosa, Calif., where Laura got a great job in a local hospital. It’s beautiful here and we hope not to move again for a long time.”

Eric Meyerson writes, “I was in Chicago over the summer with the family, where we got to visit the incredible Temperance Brewing Co. started by Josh Gilbert. Josh and I also got to spend a wacky weekend in New Orleans last fall with Adam Borut, Jason Walta, and Greg Walter ’96. I just started a new job in July. I’m running marketing for media and video at Facebook.”

After a decade teaching at the Department of Performance Studies at New York University, Tavia Nyong’o is now a full professor in American studies and theater studies at Yale. He is dividing his time between Connecticut and NYC.

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Hello from Chicago! I (Samera) am very excited to be our co-class secretary and am looking forward to keeping in touch with everyone.

Kate Gordon writes that after some years in Wisconsin and some more years in D.C., she is now based out in the Bay Area with her husband, Gino, and kids, Julia (fourth grade) and Jacob (kindergarten). She spent several years at a San Francisco-based think tank, doing climate and clean energy work, and is now working remotely for the Paulson Institute, where she runs the climate and sustainable urbanization team. She writes, “In general, I’m on planes too much and with my kids too seldom, but I’m doing interesting work and trying to make some kind of a difference in the world.”

Tomer Rothschild writes that he has been living in Beijing for the past nine years with his wife, Stacy Palestrant (Wellesley ’94), and they have three children, Shiraz (10), Meital (7), and Erez (4)—the latter two are proud to be Made in China. He and his wife work together as co-heads of Elite Scholars of China, helping China’s top Chinese high school students go to America’s top universities. Their work has been profiled by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and others. Tomer’s work brings him to Wesleyan twice a year (at least). Tomer also writes, “This summer, I loved seeing classmates/housemates Josh Protas and John Lewis in Boston, which was, as always, lots of fun. I am active in Wes events in Beijing, and would love to see any classmates coming through Beijing!”

Chuck Berger is giving up his job as CEO of Outdoors Victoria in Melbourne to move with his partner, Christy, and their boys (Leo, 4 and Tom, 7) to the outback. By October they’ll be living in Kununurra, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. He writes, “Fun fact: The Kimberley is the size of California, with the population of Middletown, Conn. Also, there are crocodiles. Come visit! charles_d_berger@hotmail.com.”

Tanya Bowers writes, “To this urban studies major’s surprise, I love living in Eastern Washington’s Tri-Cities area, where the population is just over 250,000. Surprise, surprise, I’m on our city’s planning commission.” Tanya met up with Jiyoung Lim-Gilbreth and her daughter when she visited D.C. in August and back in May, she went to the bar mitzvah of Emily Rosen Levine’s son in Larchmont.

Ken Barnett continues in his role as Christophe on Amazon’s award-winning series Mozart in the Jungle. He performed opposite Rachel Weisz in David Hare’s Plenty at the Public Theatre. In the spring, he will be appearing at Playwrights’ Horizons in a new play, The Light Years, created by the Debate Society.

Marc Waxman just moved “back home” to Massachusetts with his wife and two boys after eight years in Denver. After 22 years in public education, Marc is now working as executive director of the Society for Organizational Learning North America. He also has become a Certified ChiRunning Instructor.

Olivia Morgan and her family moved to San Francisco from D.C. Her kids, Everett and Vivian, are in the sixth and second grades, and very focused on making their parents follow through on the promise of a new puppy once they’ve “settled in” to their new hometown. Olivia runs communications and strategic programs, including a gender initiative, at Common Sense Media. Earlier this month, a national youth poetry program she’s been working on with the First Lady, celebrated its fifth class of National Student Poets.

Adam Handler moved back to Atlanta from London. Adam was, and is, with InterContinental Hotels Group and spent two years at the group’s global headquarters. Sid Espinosa and David Niles each dropped in on Adam, wife Jen Weiss Handler (Swarthmore ’98), and 4-year-old daughter, Josie (now trying to hold onto her British accent).

Raeanne Roper Martine writes, “My husband, Gilbert, and I spent two weeks in Japan in August. We visited his late mother’s family on the island of Okinawa, which is an extraordinary place, and spent another week on the main islands of Japan, visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Kyoto. It was beautiful and fascinating, and we wished we could have stayed longer! If anyone needs tips, let me know (first tip: avoid Japan in August, when it’s blisteringly hot and most of the nation is traveling for the summer holidays). All is well in Austin. I have been employed as a legal editor by the State of Texas for four years this year and am preparing for the mayhem that the state’s biennial legislative session brings every odd-numbered January. Wish me luck!”

Maggie Nelson was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2016. She is the author of nine books. Melissa Levy is teaching ESL at an elementary school in the South Bronx. Aaron Yeater was promoted to the role of managing principal at Analysis Group.

I caught up with Aaron in Chicago at a dinner he and his firm hosted in Chicago. I also met up with the Chicago Wesleyan Club for a summer picnic with Johanna Russ ’03, Rebecca Cohen ’03, Hayley Ess, and others. Last year, I met Sarah Burke for lunch in San Francisco. Adam Glickman came for a visit to Chicago last March and attended my girls’ 7th birthday party! Adam, John Pollock, Jude Tulli, Eric Grasinger, and I stay in touch and are planning a Commons Club reunion in December. I continue to practice law at Nixon Peabody and have two amazing daughters—twin girls, Sarah and Norah, who just started second grade.

Please write me your news and of course if you are in Chicago, call me!

Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

NEWSMAKERS | 1990s NEWSMAKER JONATHAN BUSH ’93 Jonathan Bush ’93, chairman and CEO of athenahealth, was honored by Tufts Medical Center with the Ellen M. Zane Award for Visionary Leadership. Michael Wagner, MD, CEO and president of Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children, noted that he was proud that Tufts Medical Center “share[s] Jonathan’s enthusiasm to drive change in health care for the greater good.” Bush, who co-founded athenahealth, Inc., in 1997, took it public in 2007 in the most successful initial public offering that year. In his best-selling book, Where Does it Hurt? An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Fixing Health Care, Bush draws on his early experiences on health care’s frontlines. Previously, Bush served as an emergency medical technician for the City of New Orleans, was trained as a medic in the U.S. Army, and worked as a management consultant in the health care practice of Booz Allen Hamilton. He majored in the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He currently serves on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows.

Sue writes for this issue. Hi, everyone! We hope you are doing well. We have some exciting updates—new books, documentaries, albums, and mini-Wes reunions. It’s always fun hearing from you, so please stay in touch.

Jacob Bricca is working on a book about documentary editing to be published next year by Focal Press. He edited the 2016 Sundance award-winning documentary, The Bad Kids, which premieres in theaters around the country on Oct. 21.

Lisa Brown writes, “May was the release of a new picture book I wrote and illustrated, The Airport Book. It’s about, well, the airport. Next May will see Goldfish Ghost, a picture book by my husband (Daniel Handler ’92, better known in children’s literature circles as “Lemony Snicket”) and illustrated by yours truly. It’s about a dead goldfish. Besides drawing up a storm, I’ve been teaching undergraduates in the illustration department of California College of the Arts.”

Dan Crane has a new album coming out with his band, Ray & Remora, of which Consequence of Sound said, “It could be where pop’s headed next.” It’s his 10th album. Also, he’s hosting a monthly-ish, Jewish-ish podcast called, The Kibitz, which features interviews with guests like David Wain (Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer), Jonathan Weisman (New York Times), author Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn), Jeff Goldblum, and Joel Stein (Time Magazine). kibitzpod.com.

Paul and Jessica D’Arcy are still in Austin, Texas. Jess keeps busy running an education-focused nonprofit and Paul leads marketing for Indeed, the large online job site. Their brood of three (Maya is 14, Ellis is 12, and Liam is 8) are still mostly sweet. Paul is trying to spend as much time as possible outdoors (running, kayaking, swimming, paddle boarding), but Jess insists it’s just a phase.

Sylvia Sironi Rowe writes, “Ian and I took a family road trip to visit Camille Aird McGadney and Andy McGadney ’92 in Maine this summer along with our kids (ages 4 and 6). It was a great visit catching up with old friends over lobsters and blueberry pie! I’m still working (now part-time) with the Clinton Health Access Initiative on HIV and malaria-focused projects, and Ian runs Public Prep, a network of single-sex charter schools in NYC. We live in Pelham Manor, N.Y., and are loving the suburban life!”

SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com