Class Notes | 2000s

Julie Stankiewicz and Ben Teaford live together in their Manchester, Conn., home with their two cats, Vespurr and Lovebug. Julie has enjoyed working with Our Companions Animal Rescue as a cat adoption specialist and recently became a member of their magazine editorial staff. Ben has been working at ESPN for the past eight years in their digital media department. Julie and Ben are happy to announce that they are engaged and are planning to get married at the Wesleyan Chapel this coming fall.

Gabriela Herman is engaged to Tyson Evans, an editor at the New York Times, and will be getting married this June on Martha’s Vineyard. She continues to work as a freelance photographer in NYC shooting for publications such as Travel & Leisure, Martha Stewart Living, and Cosmopolitan.

Alison Plenge and Colin Aitken are the proud parents of Nora Brian Aitken, who unexpectedly made her arrival 10 weeks early on Feb. 23, 2014. After almost six weeks in the NICU, Nora is doing beautifully and came home in early April. They can’t wait to put her in her first Wes onesie!

M. Bob Kao is a visiting professor at Henan University Law School in Kaifeng, China, where he teaches American law. He is starting his PhD research on marine insurance law at Queen Mary, University of London in the fall.

Sandy Batista and Gabby Carson are married and live in NYC where Gabby works as a clinical psychologist at Bellevue Hospital and Sandy as deputy chief investigator at the Manhattan district attorney’s office. They are the proud parents of Ayla and Callen.

Tom Rabstenek and Sara Bremen Rabstenek ’05 welcomed their daughter, Dorothy, on Nov. 29. The whole family is doing great in sunny L.A.

Mayuran Tiruchelvam’s documentary film, To Be Takei, made its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. A portrait of Star Trek actor and civil rights activist George Takei’s journey from WWII Japanese American internment camps to the daily Facebook feeds of over six million fans, To Be Takei will be released theatrically by Starz in August. Over the course of a busy year, Mayuran co-produced The Mend, co-starring twins Todd Stone ’05 and Adam Stone ’05, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. The Village Voice recently called Girl is in Trouble, a film Mayuran co-wrote with director Julius Onah ’04 a “a standout” of BAM’s New Voices in Black Cinema series.

At the end of 2013, Matt Meyersohn left the Celtics after eight years of running the community relations department. Starting in the new year, Matt joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF as senior director of sports partnerships. He’s in charge of working with American sports leagues, teams and athletes to raise awareness and funds for UNICEF’s international work. Matt is married to Nina, who is a radiology resident at Mass General Hospital. He’s addicted to golf and lives in Cambridge.

Matt Lerner and his wife, Chelsea, are thrilled to announce the birth of their son, Everett Finn-Lerner, on Dec. 22nd. Everett has already met (and charmed) many of his parents’ Wesleyan friends and is excited to meet many more!

Alison Criscitiello has finished her PhD at MIT, and moved to Canmore, Canada, for epic backyard skiing and climbing—and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary.

Johanna Russ and Rebecca Cohen moved with their daughter, Iris, from Detroit to Chicago. Jo is working for the Chicago Public Library’s Special Collections Division, and Rebecca is working for a consumer protection law firm.

George Obulutsa is still in Nairobi, working as a correspondent for Reuters News.

Divya Gupta has moved back to Southern California with her expanded family. She welcomed her second daughter, Niyati, in November, who joins big sister, Jahnavi, who will be starting kindergarten in the fall.

AMY TANNENBAUM |atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com

First, some contributions from people who wrote in last time, but had to be bumped to this edition because you were all so fantastic at sending me notes. So while it may be a little out of date, here’s a dispatch from Tara Colton: “On Feb. 26, 2013, my husband Jed and I welcomed our son, Benjamin, into the world. He is the most wonderful, curious, beautiful, sweet, silly little boy. I apparently thought having a baby wasn’t enough change in one year, as I returned from maternity leave to a new job, leaving Mayor Bloomberg’s office to oversee program development and planning at FEGS, one of the largest health and human services agencies in the country. We live in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which has one of the best views (and the best tacos) in NYC.”

Chris and Wendy Jeffries are still enjoying life in Baltimore, though they are taking as many trips as they can in their spare time. During their recent travels, they have seen Brian Fair and Luke Cash in Boston and Liz Collins Bliss during a trip to Wesleyan where Wendy and Liz gave a presentation to students on using data and measuring outcomes for schools and non-profits. They also regularly see Adriana Jones Laser, who lives nearby. When they are not traveling, Chris is keeping busy working as a business ligation lawyer and Wendy manages training and evidence-based practice on international child protection issues for the U.S. branch of an international federation.

Steve Gray officiated at the wedding of Erica Gersowitz and Kagiso Bond at the end of November. They were thrilled that so many Wes alums were able to join them for the celebration in Anguilla, including Tanya Ellman, Rachel Chasan, Courtney Orange, Ben Leff, Saj Rahman ’03, Mariela Rosario ’02, Julio Pabon ’02, Dave Bowers, Martha King, and Chuck Duffney ’02.

Rachel Feinstein Stevens moved to Northampton, Mass., and welcomes all friends and passing alums for a visit in the Happy Valley, just an hour from campus. She now works with her husband at their firm, Maple Street Architects, and just completed a deep energy retrofit of their two-family home.

Andee Marksamer, a geologist for Chevron, writes, “My husband, Ken Downey, and I, and our 2-year-old son, Harrison, have been living in Bangkok, Thailand, since Feb. 2013. We are all thoroughly enjoying Thailand…eating yummy spicy food, meeting lots of new people, learning to speak Thai, and traveling throughout Asia.”

Jamie Chin sent in this happy news: “On March 29, 2014, my fiancé, Cory McArthur, proposed to me on Foss Hill at Wes.”

Anthony Clark and Megan Joiner write, “We welcomed our daughter, Arden Lucia Joiner-Clark, into the world on 11/12/13 in New Haven. Anthony finishes in the joint MBA and master of environmental science program at Yale in May. The family will be in Connecticut through the summer. Miller’s Pond, here we come!”

I had the sweetest, most fun visit when Jess Firestone blew into town to tour colleges with her completely awesome friend/former student Julizza in mid-March. After a number of years teaching elementary school in Oregon, Jess has an awesome adventure planned for next year: “I’m taking a much needed break from the testing culture of American public education to teach at Las Terrenas International School in the Dominican Republic. Whale season is January to March and I welcome all visitors to the beach town where I’ll be teaching.”

Have you noticed a new magazine called Modern Farmer on newsstands, basically everywhere? Did you know it is the outfit of our very own Reyhan Harmanci, chief editor? In its first year, the publication garnered two National Magazine Award (Aka ESME or Ellie) nominations. Unfortunately there is no ESME category for Excellence in Baby Animal Coverage, because then they’d be a triple threat.

Please keep the notes coming!

MARA VOUKYDIS | MaraVee@gmail.com

We’ve got some more babies joining our class! Karen Ferreira Amis and Greg Amis welcomed their future Wesleyan alumnus, Leonard “Leo” Amis, into the world on Jan. 3rd of this year.

Melissa Stevens and Rob Debbane had a son, Max Alexander Debbane, born Feb. 16th.

Elisabeth Watson (Schreiber) wrote: “My husband, Simon, and I welcomed our daughter, Maeve, into the world on the 18th of March, born at home and under water in Falmouth, England! Big brother Aidan loves his new little sister. I’ll be back teaching fitness classes on the beach to mums and little ones in a few weeks, once the dust settles.”

Anne Obelnicki and her husband, Chris, had a baby boy, named Alden, on November 14th.

Rhiannon Luyster writes, “My husband and I have been settled in Cambridge, Mass., for seven years now and love our quiet neighborhood near Harvard Square. I am teaching at Emerson College in the communications sciences and disorders department (with fellow Wes alum Joanne Lasker ’84) and continue to do autism research at Boston Children’s Hospital. This past September we welcomed our son, Hugh Luyster Polley. We can’t imagine a more charming little person to have in our family!”

Michelle Wimberly-Speach gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Isabel in October 2013. Michelle and her husband, Kheimon Speach, have two other children, Sanaa (age 10) and Kheimon Junior (age 7). Michelle is also in the process of obtaining her master’s degree in human resources and professional studies at Pennsylvania State University.

Ali Haider is working as an interventional cardiologist for a private practice in Western Massachusetts in the greater Springfield area.

Shawn Green now works as a physics tutor at the Berkshire School and has adopted a puppy.

In 2005 John Mailer co-wrote the book The Big Empty with his father, Norman Mailer. This book is the source of material for Two Mailers, a new play that brings this father-son dialogue to life on the stage. Actor Paul Sorvino of Goodfellas fame plays Norman, and Jordan Belfi of Entourage plays John Mailer. For more information, see: argonautnews.com/the-big-empty-comes-full-circle-in-two-mailers/.

Jordan Lloyd Bookey started her career as a teacher, then pursued an MBA at Wharton, and remained in education, leading Google’s K-12 team for several years. About a year ago, she left to start her current company, Zoobean, with her husband, Felix. At Zoobean, they curate apps and books, and then personalize them for each child (like Pandora for children’s apps and books). They were featured on Shark Tank on April 18.

Hilda Ives Wiley andAvery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Andrea McKnight received the honor of being named a 2013 Massachusetts Rising Star by the Super Lawyers Committee. She writes, “It is exciting news and I am thrilled! I recently moved to Cape Cod to take my shot at running my own law practice. I have affiliated myself with a lawyer who has 30-plus years of experience, so fingers crossed!” Lauryn Siegel is still doing a million things in Brooklyn, including video, advertising, and multi-platform art projects whenever time allows. She also says, “I am thrilled to announce that my family added yet another Wes alum when my brother Ross Siegel married Sonya Penn ’01! The wedding, held in Napa Calif., included a lot of alums from a range of years, including my cousins Leslie Title Fine ’94, Ed Fine ’95, Josh Shimkin ’99, Danielle Lazier ’99, Courtney Orange ’01, Sarah Dalsimer ’01, and Kira Akerman ’10!” 

John Buffalo Mailer sent the following update: “These days I am serializing a tattoo memoir in the next 10 issues of Inked Magazine, am acting in a Matthew Barney movie called River Of Fundament that comes out in February, and am working on a graphic novel adaptation of my movie Hello Herman (which just came out on DVD and stars Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead).”

Joseph Vidich founded Kin & Company, an innovative architecture practice working in Brooklyn, specializing in the design and fabrication of custom products, furniture, and architectural interiors. Joseph also teaches architectural studio and technology courses at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and at the College of Technology at the City University of New York. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

Jenny Saranow Schultz, her husband David, and their 15-month-old daughter are now out on the West Coast, enjoying life in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. After leaving journalism for the corporate world two years ago, Jenny is now back to writing in her spare time, blogging daily hints to help make parenting easier and cheaper at HintMama.com (and she can also be found at @HintMama on Twitter and at Facebook.com/HintMama).

Erica Johnson Strauss writes: “After working for 12 years at Madison High School in San Diego, I got the opportunity on Oct. 1, 2013, to move to Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla, where I am teaching 7th grade English. I am very happy and excited about the change! My oldest son, Carter, will start kindergarten in the fall of 2014 and will now attend school in La Jolla, because I work there. Reed, my youngest son who is now 2.5, will follow him in a few years. Matt and I are very excited about this professional change; it came at the right time!”

Jonathan Schwartz writes “Onna Solomon (’01, University of Michigan) and I have been having a wonderful time with our son, Lev, who turned one in late November. Also, in July, I became the head of the middle school at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, Mich. Before moving into this post, I taught English at Greenhills; now I still teach one section of 8th grade English each day, and the rest of the time, I undertake the big job of overseeing this truly awesome middle school.”

Ben Baumer is releasing a book, The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball, co-authored by Andrew Zimbalist (P’02) in February:

Elizabeth Darlington sent the following “Paul Edlefsen and I are living in lovely Seattle in the very house where Paul grew up. Our daughter, Eleanor, is 4 and we just welcomed our son, Arthur O’Neill, two months ago! Paul is doing HIV vaccine work as a biostatistician and I am working at an Episcopal church that is being transformed into a community arts space. We love seeing Wes friends when we can here in the northwest corner of the country, and we are looking forward to the next Wes reunion in Middletown!”

Christian Frattasio writes: “Greetings from Hanover, Mass. My wife, Catherine, and I welcomed our third child, Grace Ann, on Sept. 10th. Grace joins 5-year-old big brother Samuel, and 3-year-old sister Audrey. Mommy and tiny Grace are doing wonderfully!”

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Sam Globus graduated from his PhD program in molecular biology at Cornell in March and started a job as a biotech/pharma consultant in NYC shortly thereafter. He writes, “My wife and I had our first child, Madeline Ensign Globus, on Aug. 15, 2013; she is looking forward to taking her place in the Wesleyan class of 2034 in a few years! I also was a groomsman in Ezra Steinberg’s wedding that just took place in the beginning of June.”

“As for me, I’m still kicking it in public radio,” reports Maureen McMurray. “I’m the producer/editor of NPR’s debate series, Intelligence Squared US, and most recently spent five months reporting for WWNO, New Orleans Public Radio. After 12 wonderful years in NYC, my husband and I are heading to the wilds of Concord, N.H., where I will be working for New Hampshire Public Radio. I’ll be sure to keep everyone apprised of the presidential hopefuls passing through town.”

Yvette Luxenberg and Jeff Rose welcomed son Jasper Atticus Rose into the world July 22, 2012.

Kannan Vasudevan writes: “I got engaged to a Ms. Katie Zaffrann! Our fusion wedding is slated for next fall in upstate New York.”

Sarah Tew’s wedding and portrait photography business is buzzing along in NYC, where she lives with her husband, Keith, and their two sweet cats. Check out her recent work at the recently updated sarahtewphotography.com.

From Emily Archibald: “My husband, Ben Paradise, and I had a baby boy in February. We named our Groundhog Day baby Henry Archibald Paradise. He is growing well and enjoying life in Needham, Mass. Ben is still working in asset management and I am staying home with Henry while I complete my master’s in higher education administration at Boston University.”

Kathryn Van Nimwegen Lachenmaier is living in Seattle, Wash., with her husband, Tom, and busy, almost 20-month-old, Nora. She has frequent play dates with her brother’s, Michael Van Nimwegen ’98, and sister-in-law’s, Nikki Forlenza Van Nimwegen ’98, daughters, Margo and Kate. Kathryn continues to work in early intervention, serving children, birth to 3, with special needs. She will be a manager of therapy staff at a new early intervention site set to open in January located just north of Seattle, in Bothell, Wash.

Elizabeth Savage and her husband, Michael Schopf, welcomed their first child to the world on March 20, 2013. After teaching English and composition in Cameroon, Mississippi, and Louisiana, Elizabeth returned to her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School this January, and will join her husband as a member of the Oregon State Bar this spring.

Lizzie Salzfass writes that she was able to legally marry her wife, Lena McQuade, this past summer in California. They bought a house in El Cerrito—which, she reports, is “surprisingly full of gays who can’t afford to live in SF or Berkeley”—and recently welcomed their first child, Tavi Sabine, to the family.

Alex Gordon writes, “My wife, Lucy, and I celebrated the arrival of our first child, Timothy Jan, on Aug. 23, 2013.”

In 2013, Ben Spatz performed his solo work Rite of the Butcher at the Lincoln Center Rubenstein Atrium and received his PhD from the CUNY graduate center. He is moving to England in 2014 to take a position as lecturer in drama, theatre, and performance at the University of Huddersfield.

Elizabeth Owen is now working as the legal director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center.

Sarah K. Levin writes, “I’m a clinical psychologist working with children and adults in my San Francisco private practice. It was a loooong road, but I’m loving that I’m finally back in the real world now. And it feels like an added perk that I really enjoy what I do every day. I’m happily partnered and also a proud new owner of Aloha Louie, my shelter rescue dog. He’s the best. And finally, I’ve started ‘Zero to Wonder,’ a program for babies and parents focused on developing social emotional health.”

While I wish I could take credit for the following fabulous sentence, it was supplied courtesy of Ben Hurwitz: “Dave Bihldorff (married to Carolyn Clark Bihldorff ’02), who runs the family farm in Mass., with his now two strapping sons, Caden and Logan Dai, and Maneesh Sharma who now lives in D.C. and still considers himself a ‘good’ person, plan to join Ben Hurwitz, who still lives in L.A. and has sired his own son, Milo, for Dave’s farm, for the wedding of Josh Koch next fall in Colorado, despite Josh residing in Alaska, which would make for a cooler wedding… Regardless, this wedding will hopefully produce more children for Dave’s workforce. These grads speak often, and fleetingly, of Baja.”

Here in Boston I have been hanging out with a host of awesome Wesleyanites. Sam Wechsler ’95 is my Tuesday morning coffee date, Anthony Zannino ’06 and Jon Zorn ’02 just came over for brunch, and I really miss neighborhood walks with Yael Tarshish ’09 since she moved to Virginia to go to medical school. To make up for it, we text each other occasional pictures of beautiful foliage/flowers/plants. By the time of this publication, Dana Hale ’00 will have moved to a small antique house in the woods, away from the city, but we will continue to find ways to wreak havoc together (which may or may not mean sitting around and chatting for hours).

Lastly, I just have to tell you all that recently Mary Robertson both ran the New York Marathon and was nominated for an Emmy. Mary, when will you get off the couch and start actually getting things done?!

Please be well and keep in touch.

MARA VOUKYDIS

MVOUKYDIS@WESLEYAN.EDU

Hey, Class of 2002! Happy 2014! The other morning I woke up with the Fight Song stuck in my head… and I realized that instead of trekking over Foss Hill in the snow to go to Mocon (RIP), 12 years have passed since our graduation from Wesleyan. It’s simply amazing how time flies by. We’ve fully entrenched in our 30s now. Engagements, weddings, babies, new houses and new jobs are the new norm. Never forget the great memories of the past as we make new memories for the future. Exciting times await!

Congratulations to the new parents of our class! Sarabeth Broder-Fingert and her wife Heidi Alexander welcomed daughter Zoey Alexander into the world in June! Thus far, she has enjoyed the company of many Wes grads! Allyson Miller and her husband, Michael Coppola ’03, welcomed their first child, Zachary, on July 5, 2013. He’s been to Wesleyan several times already and is looking forward to becoming a member of the Class of 2035! Dana Sirota, her husband Josh, and big sister Emma are happy to welcome Gabriel to their family, born Nov. 12th. And Sara Shandler Banks and husband Peter Banks ’01 are enjoying life with their 18-month-old daughter, Hazel, in Brooklyn.

Onto other news for the class:

Anna Johnson and her husband Jesse Brand are finally, after 16 years of graduate and post-graduate training between them, settled in Washington, D.C. Anna is an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and Jesse is a neuropsychologist in a group neurology practice. Their daughter Willa, who turned 2 in October, is considering a career in music. Anna and Jesse were thrilled to celebrate Ximena Sarango’s wedding to James Lensen-Callas in August in Portland, Ore., with lots of other Wes ’02-ers.”

Peter Mongillo left his job in Austin, Texas., as the music critic for the Austin American-Statesman and returned to New York, where he is working as a booking coordinator at MSG Entertainment. He and his wife, Rebecca D’Orsogna, welcomed their second child, Evan Reed, in June.

Angie Schiavoni is launching a new website in January 2014 that’s currently in private beta. It’s called Mamajamas, and it is a site to help expecting and new parents figure out what baby gear they really need by sharing lists with each other. Check it out at mamajamas.com.

Sallomé Hralima is chief dream director for The Future Project, with her work focused on hiring and training superheroes to work in America’s public high schools.

Ryan Akers is enjoying the first year of married life. He is still working at Anchor Brewing and happy to sneak any Wes Class of ’02 alums on the difficult-to-book brewery tour; just send him an e-mail! He’s looking forward to his annual ski trip with Daniel Winokur, Paul Kim, and Chris Lynch; this year makes it 10 in a row!

That’s it for this issue! Feel free to send notes throughout the year to me at my e-mail below:

JUSTIN LACOB
justinlacob@gmail.com

In January, Samantha Gillombardo Larson left the public defender’s office after 6.5 years and now works as a clerk magistrate for the Massachusetts Trial Courts. She frequently and happily returns to campus to visit her sister, Tabitha ’16. Among the guests at her son’s birthday party was Elias McCoy, son of Andrea Wilson McCoy, who lives close by.

Tejas Desai published his second book, Good Americans. This short story collection paints an uncompromising, panoramic portrait of contemporary America and is the first in a series of collections called The Human Tragedy. It is available on Amazon. Tejas is alternating The Human Tragedy with his novel series The Brotherhood Trilogy.

Neville Galloway-Williams is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as she applies for internships to complete her degree in clinical psychology. If this nerve-wracking process goes well, this will be her last year at Virginia Tech, and next year she could end up anywhere, from Maine to California. Wherever she goes, she hopes to find a few Wes grads who will hang out with her, husband Joshua, and 2-year-old Alice.

Tim Harrington, Jessica, and son Lius (2 years) moved to sunny Mountain View, Calif., in May and decided to stay after Tim received a permanent offer of employment from Google in its green-energy investments legal group. Daughter Josephine was born Oct. 8, in Mountain View. Mom and Josie are not sleeping much but otherwise doing great.

Along with his wife, Sally, and daughter Rose, Jeremy Cluchey moved from D.C. to the great state of Maine, where he’s working in communications at Bates College.

Kirsten Yamaguchi presented a talk about the formal and behavioral construction of gender in animation at the UC Berkeley Center for New Media during The Queerness and Games Conference. Kirsten’s talk was titled “The Medium’s Flexible Potential: Practical Tactics from Animation for Designing Queer Video Game Characters.”

A new English teacher has arrived in Salzburg. Vida Long is teaching ELL and Literature at a boarding school and loving being so close to the Austrian Alps for skiing.

Ben Rhatigan finished his MBA in and started working out of the Barcelona office of a management consultancy that specializes in companies in emerging economies, with some recent projects in Ghana, Kuwait, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.

Catherine Roden Faulk and Brian Faulk welcomed their first child, baby boy Jack Lincoln Faulk, on May 7, 2013. Jack has been welcomed to the Wes family by many Wes friends and recently met Zoey, daughter of Sarabeth Broder-Fingert ’02 and Heidi Alexander. The two were fast friends with birthdays just one month apart.

Arturo Vidich had an eventful year in NYC with two performance commissions, a Creative Capital grant, a NYFA grant, plus he got married; their son was born Jan. 31, 2014.

Andrew and Betsy Fippinger moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Andrew is a high school English teacher at Horace Mann. Betsy is a freelance casting assistant working in film and television. Their almost 2-year-old son James is an applesauce lover and Elmo aficionado.

Anna Seastrand finished her PhD in art history at Columbia and now works as a collegiate assistant professor at the University of Chicago.

Nezia Azmi married Paul Rausch in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Dec. 29, 2012, after he took her on the longest first date ever—a train trip from London to Tehran over 25 days. She is currently in KL working on some arts management/education projects and spending time with family while waiting to join Paul in Honolulu, Hawai’i, hopefully sometime in mid-2014.

Julia Beizer and husband Tom Ratliff ’01 live in Takoma Park, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C. Their second child, Miles James Ratliff, was born Dec. 21. Julia oversees mobile product development for The Washington Post.

In August, Joey Wender was joined by Tony Saudek in Jackson Hole to celebrate his marriage to Lauren Paige. Joey continues to work on Capitol Hill, having moved with his boss, Ed Markey, from the House to the Senate.

AMY TANNENBAUM

atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

It’s a Reunion year, ’04, so please give early and often to those Wesleyan fundraisers who call you in the evenings (not an easy job!), and also mark the weekend of May 23–25 on your calendars for our 10 Year Reunion! Live socializing to come; in the meantime here’s what our classmates are up to:

Jhanelle C. Allen is now living in southern Florida and very thankful for snowless winters, as she begins her new work as a fully independent emergency physician.

Eliza Wentworth is a digital producer for Weber Shandwick in Boston.

Jenna Flateman Posner and her wife, Saburah, just celebrated the arrival of their twin boys! Jenna is currently the VP of brand strategy for Curalate, a visual marketing company in Philly.

KJ Iribe is living and working in Old Town Alexandria and engaged to marry Jim Woodsome ‘06 on July 5th.

Lelah Baker-Rabe had her first romance novel, Love Unlocked, published under the name Libby Waterford, by Decadent Publishing in December 2013. Check out this romantic suspense story set in the world of art theft.

Shanta Cortez-Greig finished her master’s in social work, is a professional musician, and has an advice column radio show called ‘Help Me, Shanta!’. Soon she will get a “real” job…

Dave Stone has spent the last two years training to qualify for the Boston Marathon and accomplished that goal last year at the LA Marathon. This April, he will be running in honor of his friend, Jamen Amato, who passed away from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2009 at the age of 24. They grew up together, and although he was his younger brother Evan’s best friend, and three years Dave’s junior, Dave learned more from Jamen than he realized. Jamen was talented, determined and one of the fiercest competitor’s Dave’s ever known. A star on Dave’s hometown soccer team, Jamen eventually captained the Boston College team. He was bright, energetic, and passionate about life. Dave says that playing with Jamen and knowing him was an honor, and so his inaugural Boston Marathon will be to return the favor to this great friend, brother and person. Online donations to support Dave as he runs in Jamen’s memory for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society can be made at pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston14/dstonel4l8.

Mark Hatch-Miller finished his clerkship for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and started working as an associate at the New York office of Susman Godfrey LLP, a Houston-based law firm that specializes in commercial litigation. In October, he got married to Emily Ross in Beacon, N.Y. Lots of alums from various years were present, including ’04 classmates Aaron Schoonhoven, Andrea Garcia, Carl Cervone, Emma Alpert, Kathryn Schoendorf, Krishna Andavolu, Noah Nattell, Peter Thilly, and Steve Gravatt.

Michael Aylward just moved to San Francisco to work on renewable energy strategy and policy for PG&E (Northern California’s electric utility). He is loving California life, enjoying the beautiful scenery and decadent food and drink. He got to see his buddy Tim Harrington ’03, with his fabulous wife and awesome little son. Before moving to the west coast Michael spent a weekend backpacking the Appalachian Trail with Justin Freiberg. Any Wes alums in the Bay Area up for an adventure can reach him at maylward@umich.edu.!

Greg Heller recently got engaged to Diana Lind, with a wedding planned for next May. He also recently began a new job as interim president and CEO of American Communities Trust, a nonprofit that focuses on social-impact real-estate to revitalize low-income communities across the U.S. His book Ed Bacon: Planning, Politics, and the Building of Modern Philadelphia, released in the spring, and has been getting good reviews. [Ed. note: See p. 16]

Carl Cervone recently returned to the United States with his wife, Kidist Zebene, after spending the last 10 years in East Africa. Carl worked with the international development organization TechnoServe and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to design a strategy, and then execute an eight-year initiative to help more than 200,000 coffee farming families double their income. Carl spent most of his time in Ethiopia, opening the program’s office there in 2008 and building a team of more than 200 local coffee professionals. He continues to work with TechnoServe, but now on a more global scale and based out of New York. If you are a coffee aficionado (and particularly if you seek out boutique, single origin Ethiopian coffees), you’ve probably tasted beans produced by farmers that Carl has worked with.

Alonzo Davis is no longer a private wealth advisor at Goldman Sachs after ending his 7+ year stint in finance to focus on entrepreneurship. He has created the first social network focused on sexual health, Just Been Tested (JBT)—think of it like sexual health meets Facebook. JBT encourages people, mainly those in the 18–24 year old demographic, to know their status through the use of rewards and incentives. It’s a new, creative approach to reducing the stigma associated with getting tested and preventing the spread of infection. STIs are on the rise, and he thought many of the ways to get people tested were depressing or just out dated. JBT aims to change that. They organize free HIV testing that includes a social event and creative incentive for people to know their status. JBT also verifies when someone was tested for an STI, and then this verified date is then added to the profile page of the JBT member. They have recently launched the nonprofit JBT Foundation, Inc. and will be busy next quarter raising funds to become self-sufficient.

After four years as an associate at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb, Rebecca Weinstein changed jobs and is now an in-house corporate counsel at Colgate-Palmolive in NYC.

Josh Garrett lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Robyn, and dog, Dylan. He earned an M.P.A. in environmental science and policy from Columbia University in 2012, and currently works at The Nature Conservancy as the marketing manager for its North America Energy Program.

Philippe Gosselin has been enjoying life in San Francisco, having rekindled his love of acting recently with roles this past year on stage, film and TV. He has a new website highlighting some of his work, at phillipegosselin.com. Philippe is very proud of his fellow Wes film majors, and their extraordinary work and achievements this past year! At the time this is published, he will be in the middle of a three-month trek through South America.

Mairead Ahern Salsich married Bob Viégas in November. The wedding was in Wayland, Mass., near where she grew up in Natick. From our class, Cora Peterson, Alyssa Kagel, Laurel KemperKennedy, Liza Harrison Ashbrook, Mary Livingston, and Sarah Pradka attended. Nina Romá-Agvanian ’06 and Deirdre Salsich ’07, her sister, also attended.

As I (Meeghan Ward) write these Class Notes, I’m enjoying some wine in our London flat while my husband, Daniel Creeden, works on a project for his MBA program at London School of Business and Finance, and dogs, Reggie and Mr. Sox, lounge adorably at our side. In August, we married under two old-growth willow trees facing the Boston skyline from Thompson Island in the harbor. TI is a nonprofit organization with an Outward Bound Education Center, and they also throw a mean clambake with proceeds going back to their wonderful programs for kids from the local community (thompsonisland.org) Linda Caparyan, Amy Posocco, Ashley Elia Weller, and Liz Walsh MacMillan were beautiful bridesmaids! Several other members of the Wes family were in attendance, staying at the camp for the weekend and bringing the festivities to a new level. This included: Nora Bowman ’05, Patrick Carroll ’03, Allyson Miller Coppola ’02, Whitney Ebbeson ’02, Kamica Lewis ’03 Joshua Pelletier ’04, Marielle Lesnevich Silk ’04, Shay Bernius Squeglia ’02, Shaleen Bowman Thody ’03, Jeremiah Tracy ’03, and Basketball Coach Kate Mullen. Our little family moved to London in the fall, as I began my new role as senior HR business partner for Advent Software Europe and Middle East. Feeling grateful; life is good!

Jenina NuÑez and Meeghan Whooley Ward
meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com
jenina.nunez@gmail.com

Heather Olins is still in grad school, studying microbes that live in underwater volcanoes. Recently she met up with Emily Kachergis, Kathryn Flynn ’03, and a bunch of other Wes E&ES alumni, current students, and faculty at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, Colo., and had a great time catching up, nerding out over geology, and remembering how awesome Wesleyan was!

A year ago, Adam Poswolsky left Washington, D.C., to follow his dream since Wes graduation to move to San Francisco. He recently ran The Bold Academy, an entrepreneurial leadership development program for 20-somethings in career transition. He is currently writing his first book, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, a guide for millennials looking for meaningful work. After a successful Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the book, it is due to be released in March 2014.

About a year ago, Dan Bobkoff moved back to New York after spending five years in public radio in Ohio. He is now reporting on business for NPR and living in Brooklyn.

Since leaving Wesleyan, Wil Renderos has continued to pursue his passion for music. He studied audio production in a program at Boston University, and has recorded and produced records for artists and bands throughout the Boston area. In early 2013, Wil opened a music studio in a renovated warehouse located in Everett, Mass., where he continues to engineer and mix records, produce audiobooks, and direct audio post-production efforts for video projects. In addition, he has established the Audio Chemists Institute, a music technology and audio production training program that aims at making music more accessible to everyone, and promoting long-term engagement in the arts.

Best-selling author and visiting professor at Wesleyan Sam Wasson ’03 has written Fosse, a biography about the entertainment icon. This book is ushered into the world with a riveting book trailer, directed by Max Goldblatt, and shot by Dan Adlerstein ’03, on how Sam becomes Fosse.

Artist Evan Bissell collaborated with Erik Loyer on the creation of Freedom’s Ring, a multimedia experience of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Evan was invited to create the animation by Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute.

Postdoctoral Associate Intan Suci Nurhati ’05 and others from the Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) are the first team to drill for coral samples in Singapore waters. Nurhati is a climate scientist but she works alongside a marine biologist and a professor of ocean geochemistry, creating “an interesting synergy where [they] work on different topics” but use the same material—corals.

MARCELLA MARTINEZ
momartinez@wesleyan.edu