Class Notes

Kwei Chang and Bensen Gillespie ’04 are working within the architecture and construction industry in NYC and are collaborating on high-end new buildings and the restoration of pre-war buildings. While starting in the same place—studio classes with their beloved professor, Martha Anez—they then went their separate ways for grad school, and it was not until years later that they reconnected in NYC and are now collaborating on big projects.

Kwei is the design director of the development company China Overseas America (cohl.com) and Benson is a partner of the façade design and consulting firm Surface Design Group (surfacedg.com).

Jane Morley celebrated seven years at Quirk Books, a book publisher in Philadelphia. She completed her first triathlon in July, racing as a member of Team Humane League, an athletic advocacy group that raises money to improve the lives of factory-farmed animals.

Lodro Rinzler co-founded MNDFL Meditation, a network of meditation studios based in NYC. Three years later MNDFL has had over 150,000 cushions booked, offers meditation in over 100 companies around the city, and has developed a nonprofit arm that brings meditation into underserved communities. He is also the author of six books, the first of which (The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .) has now sold over 100,000 copies.

Ben Shestakofsky married Isheh Beck in Inverness, Calif., last March. Wedding attendees included Adam Freelander, Maxwell Greene, Caitlin Henningsen ’06, Stephanie Marcus, Seth Samuels ’06, Danya Sherman ’06, Jon Shestakofsky, Andrew Wachtenheim, and Kingston Wong ’06. After receiving his doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in July, Ben began a position as assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Ben and Isheh live in Newark, N.J.

Alexis May, Clara Moskowitz, and Sarah Woodbury traveled to Scotland to visit Jessica Phillippi and Gwyneth Harrison-Shermoen, who are both living in the U.K. The five of them, plus Sarah and Clara’s daughter, Esther, traveled through Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the highlands, saw bagpipers and puffins, ate plentiful shortbread, and had a ball.

Chris Gateman, and his wife, Kim, are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, James Hunter Gateman, born Aug. 29. In keeping with family tradition, James Hunter will be called by his middle name, just like his big brother, John Colton (2.5 years old).

Anna Zayaruznaya lives in New Haven with her husband, Yarrow, and daughter Aeliz. She was promoted to associate professor in the department of music at Yale. Her first book, The Monstrous New Art: Divided Forms in the Late Medieval Motet (Cambridge, 2015), was just rereleased in paperback. Her second book, Upper-Voice Structures and Compositional Process in the Ars Nova Motet, was published this summer by Routledge; see more at annaz.blog.

Sara Bremen Rabstenek is a product director at the New York Times, where she’s been working on digital story forms and tools since moving back to New York four years ago. She and her husband, Tom Rabstenek ’03, are on the Upper West Side with their two girls: Abigail, who turns 2 in December, and Dorothy, who started kindergarten this fall.

Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com

I hope you all had a wonderful 2018. As we ring out the year and look ahead to the next one, I wanted to bring you the latest updates from all our classmates.

More baby congratulations: Jamie Novogrod and his wife, Sarah Rienhoff, had twins (a boy and a girl) in September. Fife and Grace are happy and healthy and are best friends. They live with their dog, Ernie, in LA. James is the L.A. bureau chief for Vice News Tonight on HBO.

Kerry Wallach and Jess Firshein ’05 welcomed their second child, Rafael Jonathan Wallach, in late September. Zev (almost 3) is very excited to be a big brother. Kerry and Jess are based in Rockville, Md., and are enjoying consecutive parental leaves from their jobs at Gettysburg College (where Kerry is now tenured and chair of German studies) and Accenture (where Jess is a senior manager).

And Rachel Kriger is still babymaking. Her third child, Evan Ziv Kriger-Corso, was born Aug. 28 outside under the light of the moon in her backyard in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Suzy Gerstein and husband David welcomed their second child (but first daughter), Judith Rose Engelhardt on May 21. Judy joins her big brother, Harvey, who turns 6 in December. Suzy works as a makeup artist in NYC. She was fortunate enough to reconnect with Nicole Cohen, who works with Medela, and who generously helped Suzy with feeding options for her return into the workforce. Suzy says, “it doesn’t solve the work-life juggling act but sure makes it easier knowing fellow mamas have got your back.”

And Joel Nichols and his boyfriend, Ray Murphy, adopted again last year and are please to introduce their adorable, now 1-year-old, Jody. Their older kid just started kindergarten and is in the same class as Mary Peacock and Phil Gentry’s kid, too!

On the entertainment industry front: Michael Zimbalist has directed three feature documentaries released in 2018: Nossa Chape, about the rebuilding of the Chapecoense soccer club after a tragic airplane crash killed most of the team, which was released through Fox Sports; Momentum Generation, a Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award winner about the world’s most legendary surf crew, executive produced by Robert Redford; and Give Us This Day, following three police officers and three residents in East St. Louis, the city with the highest homicide rate in the country, executive produced by Vince Vaughn. They are also releasing their Fox series, Phenoms, about young footballers in the lead up to the 2018 World Cup, and a Netflix original documentary series they created.

Kevin Cornish was nominated for an Emmy for directing an interactive piece for 13 Reasons Why at Netflix.

From Kevin: “I didn’t win, but still seems like it’s worth mentioning.” Kevin is a prolific VR director and producer, working with brands and clients like Netflix, IBM, Google, Oculus, MTV, Discovery, and AT&T, and is the founder of Moth + Flame, a full service virtual reality agency.

Before her transition from nonprofit leader with The Future Project to filmmaker with The Gates Preserve, Sallomé Hralima delivered a talk at TEDxWesleyanU titled “Workplaces Suffocate Human Potential” four weeks after delivering her second child. She is married with two children living in Brooklyn and working on a documentary film about hip-hop journalists, called Shaping the Culture and set for release next fall.

Out here in California: Ryan Akers moved to Davis, Calif., with his wife, Betty, and two boys, ages 2 and 4. After seven years of filtering and brewing beer, he is now a stay-at-home-dad, while Betty is completing her residency in neurology. He is looking forward to his 15th annual ski trip with Dan Winokur and Paul Kim early next year.

Nicole Krauch Stone lives in the Bay Area with her 8-year-old son, Noah, and her husband, Philip, who is a computer software engineer which is “why she can afford to stay in the Bay Area!” Nicole teaches preschool three times a week and twice a week she teaches Qigong classes to adults. In her spare time, Nicole dances, romps in the wilderness, swims in bodies of water, and transcribes talks on meditation and spirituality.

And lastly: Edna Togba was promoted to chief development officer at Chicago Sinfonietta. She has been with the organization for three years.

Lauren Gottlieb Lockshin is living in NYC with her husband and two daughters and completing her PhD at Yale University in Jewish History. She is expecting a third daughter in late November/early December.

Sarah-Jane Ripa has fulfilled her lifelong dream of being able to both speak German all the time and live in Massachusetts by working for the Goethe-Institut Boston.

Justin Lacob | justinlacob@gmail.com

Hi, 2001. Thank you for showering us with your good news and updates this season. As usual, it’s great to hear from everyone, and your notes never disappoint.

Lauren McCarthy’s baby girl, Eleanor (Nora), just turned a year old in August. Lauren also writes she forgot to mention in past notes that she married Dan Kost several years ago. Oops. Lauren teaches political science and legal studies at UMass Amherst and received tenure last year. Congrats on one of the biggest years so far!

Alex Gordon and his wife celebrated the arrival of their second daughter, Elsa Victoria, in April. They’re pretty fired up about it.

Kramon & Graham law firm named trial lawyer Chris Jeffries a 2017–2018 MVP of the Maryland Defense Counsel for his work as MDC Deposition Bootcamp Steering Committee Co-Chair. The MVP award is presented to attorneys who have gone above and beyond in making MDC a success, and this year’s sold-out event speaks volumes of Chris’ efforts.

Michael Homolka and wife Tamara were married in April 2017. They live on the Upper West Side of NYC, and Michael is a high school English instructor for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Michael is always on the lookout for anyone interested in part-time math and English instructor positions. Also, his first collection of poems, Antiquity, was published by Sarabande Books a little over two years ago and “exists now in a warm and wonderful vacuum of silence.” Michael invites anyone who is interested in talking about or exchanging poetry to contact him. Other than this highly undramatic spritz of information (Michael’s words, not ours), life is good.

Jeff Lane and his wife, Emily Henretta, welcomed a baby boy, Vincent James Lane, on Sept. 16. They are all doing well in their house in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Jeff published The Digital Street, a nonfiction book based on his many years of fieldwork with Harlem teenagers and studying their online life in the neighborhood. Order your copy on Amazon.

To cap things off with a shameless plug, I (Aryn Kalson-Sperandio) recently launched my new company, True Story Consulting (truestoryconsulting.com). We provide writing and communications support to busy executives and entrepreneurs. If you or your client needs help with ongoing content demands, get in touch!

Finally, I’ll end by sharing that my husband and I braved our first family road trip this summer. Three kids, two parents, three states (Montana, Wyoming, Montana), two weeks. Zero murders. Perfection.

Many, many thanks to everyone who wrote in. We always enjoy hearing from our lot of overachieving (we say that with affection) Wes classmates, so keep in touch!

Mara Voukydis | maravee@gmail.com

Aryn Sperando | arynsperandio@yahoo.com

Scott Mayerowitz is the deputy global business editor for the Associated Press. He’s also hosting AP’s weekly travel podcast, Get Outta Here!

Shawn Paunchai-Green and wife Chaba welcome their first child to the world, Isana Sylvie, born on July 8.

Adam Zeller writes, “After 18 years in New York, my husband and I have moved to LA. I’ve taken a new role as SVP of global digital marketing at 20th Century Fox and we’re living in West Hollywood. I see Emily Bronkesh-Buchbinder and Melanie Lewis often. Wesleyan is everywhere here, and I’ve connected with Matthew Greenfield ’90 and John Penney ’87 here at Fox. Any Angelinos who want to say hi, e-mail me at adamzeller@gmail.com!”

Alua Arthur joyfully turned 40 this year! As most of us also turned 40, she would like wish us all a very happy 40th trip around the sun!

Mandy Snyder writes “I am living in Norwich, Vt. Inspired by my dance background and years of mindfulness practice, I developed an embodied healing process to help people feel more at home in their bodies and to heal from trauma. You can read more about it at mandysnyder.com. I am also enjoying the Contact Improv community in Montpelier and loving spending time in woods around my home.”

Anne Obelnicki writes, “On Sept. 18, my husband, Chris, and I welcomed our daughter Rosalia Margaret Obelnicki Weiler to the world. Big brother, Alden, is especially proud!”

Te-Ling Nai and Tak Wai Chung had another baby girl, Chun Yan, in last April. All three kids are doing well in Singapore.

Diana Ify Chuke-Nwobi is now in the fourth year of her wellness startup, Miracle in the Green. She says, “We provide our customers with clean and natural alternatives for baby, kids, and adults, with skin care products using the seed oil of the miracle plant named Moringa. Also, Oringaa is our 100 percent moringa powder which can be used in smoothies, juices, soups, salads, tea or in just plain water. Find us on miracleinthegreen.com.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Mike Hakim lives in Malibu with three kids—Skyler, Lexi, and new arrival, Charleston! He is working to expand real estate investments across the U.S., specifically within opportunity zones, transit corridors, and near schools in underserved communities. He wants to congratulate the Division III lacrosse champs under John Raba and Frantz Williams on his promotion as the new vice president for university relations. Mike is going to dearly miss the one and only Barbara-Jan Wilson but was able to celebrate her in Beverly Hills over the summer at a Wes event.

Li Yu and his wife, Tamara, were in Australia between Christmas and New Year. They went to Canberra to visit Kim-Marie Spence ’00, who is finishing her PhD at the Australian National University and will be publishing her dissertation on the impact of reggae and k-pop on economic development in Jamaica and South Korea.

Katherine Goldberg is now a dual professional veterinarian and social worker, after passing her LMSW board exam in July. She is utilizing her DVM and LMSW to address human-animal relationships in veterinary environments and attend to serious illness and eldercare of both people and animals. Her recent publications include book chapters: “Considerations in Counseling Veterinarians: Addressing Suffering in Those Who Care For Animals”, “Issues in Serious Illness and End of Life Care,” and “Following the Loss of a Companion Animal: Aftercare and Pet Loss Support” in Clinician’s Guide to Treating Companion Animal Issues; “Euthanasia Considerations” in Textbook of Small Animal Emergency Medicine, First Edition, and “Veterinary Hospice and Palliative Care: A Primer for Mental Health Professionals,” in Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions: Navigating the Human-Animal Bond (in press). She is editor of the forthcoming issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America, Small Animal Practice: Advances in Palliative Medicine, which is the first such volume within the veterinary literature.

Leander Dolphin still enjoys practicing law and was elected to the management committee at her firm Shipman & Goodwin this year.

Zack Becker published his first novel, a private detective thriller set in Houston. Gun Shy is available in paperback on Amazon and e-book pretty much everywhere.

Dan Young is living in the vibrant immigrant community of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His wife, Liz, a native to the area, left a career in research science to become a science teacher at a local high school. Meanwhile Dan keeps busy as a freelance radio journalist covering politics and environmental issues. They spend a lot of their free time at Brighton Beach.

Abby Levine and Caddie Hastings were lucky enough to be in attendance to celebrate Dave Mahony’s wedding to a wonderful woman. Dave and his wife, Jennifer, live in the Bay Area, where they curate Chai Sessions, an evening of stories, songs, and tea aimed at fostering a sense of community.

Janel Davis is really grateful and proud for completing her master’s in marriage and family therapy from Southern Connecticut State University. She looks forward to seeing everyone at Reunion!

Kevin and I also look forward to seeing everyone at Reunion! Until then, be awesome, be well, and be in touch.

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

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Hi, fellow ’98ers. I missed you all at Reunion but from all accounts it seems like it was quite a good time. The following are the notes from our class.

Anya Fernald was included in Inc.’s “The Female Founders 100”—women entrepreneurs that Inc. has been most intrigued by in the past year, whose smarts are rattling industries far and wide. Within this group Anya was named one of the “17 Female Founders Built Brands That Started Movements.”

Anya is co-founder and CEO of Belcampo Meat Co. which started as a vertically integrated, certified organic, and animal welfare-approved farm and butchery in Northern California. Belcampo now runs seven restaurants, a burgeoning e-commerce site, and wholesale businesses, along with a hospitality arm that includes meat camps, where wellness-minded participants learn to butcher and cook meat. Anya is working on expansions that will include a box-subscription service for meat, bone broth, and jerky and a new restaurant and butcher shop that will open soon in NYC.

Joshua Stedman writes: “My band, Brothers of Others, had an exciting time over the Wesleyan Reunion and Commencement weekend. First, we were honored to play at our class’s 20th. The next day we performed with The Voice’s brand new champion, Brynn Cartelli. And the following day we sang the National Anthem a cappella in front of 40,000 at Fenway Park on Memorial Day Weekend.”

Nathan Eddy passed his viva for a PhD in Hebrew Bible. He still uses the Bible he bought for Religion 201 with Jeremy Zwelling, complete with Hebrew words he wrote down from that class.

Lynn Chen is directing her first feature film, I Will Make You Mine, which she also wrote, is producing, and starring in. She’s cast John Newman in it too. You can find out more at IWillMakeYouMine.com.

Amy Barnes writes: “My big news in 2018 is that I launched my own investment advisory and financial planning firm, Firebrand Wealth Management, with a focus on planning for women. I also had my second child, a baby boy, born in May. I am living in Seattle with my partner.”

Peter Isbister lives in Decatur, Ga., with his wife, Robyn, and their three kids, Mira, Ezra, and Lucia. Occasionally he sees Rachel Wellborn, who lives in Atlanta. Peter is enjoying his new job at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where he works in the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. This past summer Peter worked with summer intern Agnes Baik ’09.

After over a decade of handling class notes, Marcus Chung has retired. I want to thank Marcus for taking this on for all of these years and for his dedication to the university and our class. We are looking for new people to help take on our class notes. If you have the time and interest, please contact me.

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com

Thanks for your updates, Class of 1997!

60 Minutes producer Alexandra Poolos has been nominated for an Emmy for her most recent story, a profile of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Alexandra, we’re so proud of you!

It was great to hear from Monica Santana Rosen, who wrote in to share, “It’s hard to believe, but my husband and I celebrated 21 years since the day we first met, which was just after Wesleyan graduation. We have three kids, two boys and a girl, ages 14, 10, and 6. I’m running my own consulting firm and just about to celebrate two years in business.”

Min and Alejandro Santandrea launched a new shoe brand, SantM, and had the launch party during New York Fashion Week in the former studio/home of Jean-Michele Basquiat that was owned by Andy Warhol. “We had a great Wes turn out. Thy Pham flew in from Seattle to help us. Shelby Stokes, Soraya Kernizan, Susan Lee, Susan Ha, and Josh White ’84 were there. Rebecca, the daughter of Professor Emeritus John Paoletti, represented the Paolettis. Also, received a great support from Christian Housh and his wife, Tassia Thomas, Tyler Moriguchi ’95, Michele Lau, Lauren Wolfe, Charlson Choi, and Maggie Suniewick.” Check them out at santm.co (we totally did!) And, because it’s such a small world . . . turns out Min’s kids and Sasha’s kids go to the same elementary school in NYC. And we are having coffee as soon as she’s back from Italy (ah, the shoes!).

We have exciting news from Matt Mulvey and his wife, Katie Sacksteder. They welcomed another boy, Finn Mulvey, into the world in June 2017. Katie and Matt sold their company, BeneVir Biopharm, Inc., to Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson) in July of this year, which made headlines in the hot field of cancer immunotherapy. They will remain at the helm of the company for the foreseeable future and are excited about all of the resources available at Janssen to accelerate the development of their innovative cancer treatments. But, they are most happy about being able to spend more time with their kids now that they don’t have to raise capital anymore. Congratulations, Matt and Katie! And good luck with your work discovering new therapies to fight cancer—how amazing!

Your class co-secretaries have an update. We got to spend the day together in July in NYC. Sasha and her son (age 7) and Jess and her two youngest sons (ages 9 and 6) went to lunch at Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum and then to the American Museum of Natural History. We lucked out on the unusually cool weather that came right after a quick summer storm. Roaming around the city together felt magical. And we cannot wait till the next Wes Reunion with all of you (mere seconds away, in 2022)! Until then, send us your photos and updates.

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Dacque Tirado talks to Shereem Brown often, as they live near each other in Montgomery County in Maryland. He teaches high school in the Bethesda area and looks forward to reconnecting with the Wesleyan Washington, D.C., Alumni Club this fall.

Jullia Chowdhury Quazi has been busy helping her son acclimate to college coursework. At 9 years old, Kairan Quazi is among the youngest college students in the country. He is earning his A.A. degree in mathematics and chemistry at a college in the SF Bay Area, and has his sights set on transferring to a four-year college in a couple of years. Hello, Wesleyan?

Daniela Louisa Bell moved with her husband and 10-year-old daughter to Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico. It was time to get back to her Mexican roots and for her daughter to learn the language and explore her heritage more, meet a million tías and primos (aunts and cousins). And frankly, to eat a lot of amazing food (Oaxaca is a culinary/gastronomic superstar within Mexico . . . and therefore the world, too!). If any Wes folks find themselves contemplating coming to southern Mexico to Oaxaca—look her up! They’d love to show you around this amazing place.

Jayme L. Peta, PhD saw Dana Schneider and Elizabeth Wilson ’95 in New York. Jayme is starting a new position as the assistant director of the office of professional development at Palo Alto University. She said, “I’m so excited to be headed back into higher education.”

Flo Stueck was inducted into the 2018 Wes Athletics Hall of Fame. Flo was the most prolific scorer in Wesleyan women’s soccer history and holds almost every scoring record—most goals in a career (49), season (16), and game (4; tied with two others), and most points in a career (115) and season (37). A captain her senior season, Flo concluded her career with several accolades. She was named to the 1995 NEWISA Senior Bowl, was a Division III All-New England selection, was named the 1994 MVP of the ECAC Championships, was selected to the NEWISA All-Star Team, and earned an All-Star selection by NSCAA/Umbro. Flo was also a member of the 1994 women’s soccer team that was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Flo co-authored a chapter called “Well-Being: Bisexuality and Mental and Physical Health” in the textbook Bisexuality: Theories, Research, and Recommendations for The Invisible Sexuality (2018, Springer Publishing Company).

Stacey Samuel lives in D.C. where she is a supervising editor at NPR, helping to run the newsroom. She remains best friends with Kristen Worrell and Christianne Rennke Phillips and speaks to both daily.

Nina Erlich-Williams got together with Cora (Stubbs-Dame) Jeyadame in April in Southern California. They spent a leisurely day that included margaritas at lunch, shoe shopping, and a visit with her wife and their adorable kiddos on the beach. In July, Dara Federman and Nina went to San Francisco to visit with Hilary Hoeber, her husband, and their adorable baby girl. Nina enjoys life in Corvallis, Ore., with her husband and two boys. They’re just wrapping up another glorious summer that involved a lot of fresh produce from the garden and canning things like salsa, jams, and pickles. She and her husband, Sev, run a small PR firm that primarily serves nonprofits. If any Wes folks are passing through Corvallis, let her know!

Jesse Wegman lives with his wife, Kyra, and their two daughters, Sami and Natalya, in Wesleyan-stone Brooklyn. In the apartment directly above them, by chance, were Amani Willett ’97 and Ali Kalis, and their sons Satchel and Kai—although they sadly moved north to Massachusetts in the summer.

Jesse is on the editorial board of the New York Times, where he’s spent the past five-plus years writing editorials about the Supreme Court and national legal affairs. He will be taking a leave after the midterms to write a book calling for the end of the electoral college and adoption of a national popular vote for president, which will be published in early 2020, just in time to make a lot of people either happy or angry.

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Hi, Wes fam! Many new and long-lost names highlight this season’s edition of ’95 Notes. I personally have seen a number of you recently—highlighted by a June cookout at the Croton-on-Hudson home of Leila Goldmark. We were blessed by the presence of M.C. Campbell, who recently moved to Reston, Va., where she is neighbors with Bill Burton ’74. Also got a note from old friend Julia Lazarus; she and her husband, Steve, were delighted to share the birth of their daughter, Eleanor Lazarus Aurora Parman, in September.

Fall brings the paperback edition of Vanessa Grigoriadis’s nonfiction book, Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus, which describes what she learned talking to students, administrators, and profs at Wesleyan (among other schools) about sexual assault and its aftermath. Vanessa answers many of the questions of sexual consent in national debate, and grapples with the future of the #MeToo movement.

Matt Duffy sends a quick update: “I am just starting my third year as superintendent of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, an urban school district of 30,000 students in the Bay Area. It’s been crazy but really good. We also welcomed a new baby, Luna, into the family last year, which has been an amazing experience for our whole family. I am still in touch with a number of Wes folks, including Malcolm Edwards, Randy and Brooke Jackson, and others. Shout out to the Wes family.”

Rachel Posner and Jody Kuh met up as new members of the Kings County (aka Brooklyn) Democratic Committee, as part of a campaign called #RepYourBlock launched by the New Kings Democrats to transform the Democratic Party from the grassroots up. They’ll be representing their neighbors in shaping the party, ensuring it is increasingly inclusive, transparent, and democratic.

Rafhia Foster writes from her hometown of Philadelphia: “I’m working at Girard College as the director of cultural competencies and admissions. I get to have a mini-reunion and see lots of Wes folks at the NAIS People of Color Conference each year. DJ VanVader ’96 was the DJ for the conference party last year. I felt like I was back at a ’90s-era Wes party. I have two sweet and energetic boys, 9 and 2, who keep me very, very busy. And the biggest update is that I reconnected with a lost love this spring and eloped in August. Lots of good changes! I would love to connect with anyone stopping through Philly!”

Daniel Greene curated a new exhibition, Americans and the Holocaust, which opened in April at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. to mark its 25th anniversary. He’s also teaching history at Northwestern University and living in Evanston.

Rob Armstrong writes: “My wife, Wylie, and I moved back to Brooklyn this September after five years in London. Still writing about money for the Financial Times. Our twins are 9 and going to Brooklyn New School, which is some kind of hippie commune and a big change from British state schools, uniforms, and so on. Still hang out with Russell Agle all the time. Keen to hear from any other ’95ers in the big city.”

Up in Boston, Jason Wiser made comics for the Boston Globe and Franciscan Children’s Hospital and School to help four kids in longterm care envision themselves as superheroes. The comics and stories about these extraordinary kids can be found at bostonglobe.com.

This year, Jason celebrated the bat and bar mitzvahs of Rebecca Fried Weisberg’s [’97] daughter and Nicole Goldstein’s [’96] son.

Boston was also the site of a recent retirement party for Wes Dean of Admissions, Barbara-Jan Wilson, who specifically remarked upon the class of ’95 (her first class admitted at Wes). Katy McNeill, Jen Levine-Fried, Brendan Coughlin, Karsten Cash, and Amy Casher were some of the ’95ers at the event. Amy writes: “We represented our class and reminisced about our singing group connections (in Onomatopoeia and Ebony Singers) and work memories (Brendan and I were both hired by a small consulting start-up called Mainspring, after finishing our MBAs at Yale one year apart, and were acquired into IBM as part of their Strategy & Change group way back in 2001). What a treat to have the opportunity to catch up after all these years.”

Personally, Amy has been designing and making jewelry out of her studio in the SoWa Art + Design District for the past 10 years, living in Concord with her husband and two kids (ages 6 and 4), and recently traveled to San Francisco to link up with Foss 9 hallmates Davina Baum and Alissa Van Nort.

Thanks all of you for writing—keep on keepin’ us up to date!

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Hello from Chicago! The summer flew by and school has started for my twin girls, Sarah and Norah, who are in fourth grade! I continue to practice law at Nixon Peabody LLP in Chicago. Just last week, Peter Chandler came to an event hosted by my firm in D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It was a gorgeous locale and it was great to catch up with Peter, who works on Capitol Hill as the chief of staff to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. During the summer, Peter traveled to Europe with Lourdes Arista and other friends and said they had a fabulous time.

Robin Shane has been appointed to a full-time, tenure-track position as an assistant professor of theater at Rider University. Robin will be joining the faculty as the costume designer professor, teaching classes, designing shows, and running the costume shop. Her daughters, Cecily and Miranda, are now in ninth and sixth grade, respectively, and doing great.

Matt Solomon is practicing law in D.C., where he lives with his wife and two kids, and is still in close touch with Jon Liebson ’92, Gideon Stein, and Sul Lunat.

Jessica Sharzer wrote the movie, A Simple Favor, directed by Paul Feig that opened in theaters in September.

Jessica is also writing for the Apple reboot of Amazing Stories and raising her kids, Dante, 11, and Sasha, 8, in Los Angeles.

James Longley premiered a new feature documentary film at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF! The movie is called Angels Are Made of Light, and it’s set in a school in Kabul. He spent three years in Afghanistan filming it.

Kika Stump has a new job in the office of institutional research at Bates College.

Karen Gaffney has been an English professor at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey for 15 years. She published an accessible introduction to race and racism with tools for action called Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (Routledge, 2018).

Sasha Chanoff lives in Somerville, Mass., with his wife, Marni, and their two children, Hayden, 10, and Lailah, 8. RefugePoint, the organization he started in 2005 to find solutions for the most at-risk refugees, is growing. RefugePoint has main offices in Cambridge, Mass., Nairobi, and Geneva, and staff in about 25 countries around the world.

Matt Fraser has taught and studied languages and written books on education. His latest book, Critical Infrastructure for Children: The Astonishing Potential of New England Schools, asks and answers 165 questions on education.

Charlotte Castillo celebrated her 13th year working at Viacom Media Networks . . . and her first year in a new role as SVP, global franchise planning. Her role takes her around the world, where she sometimes bumps into fellow Wes folks! This summer, Charlotte had a fabulous girls’ trip to Grenada with Patria Rodriguez ’93, Cynthia Centeno ’93, and Lisette Nieves ’92.

Kate Gordon joined the firm Ridge-Lane Limited Partners as a partner in the sustainability practice. She is working on finishing a book on climate risk and “just transition” for communities dependent on fossil fuel extraction—coming out sometime in 2019 from Columbia University Press. Kate writes that her kids keep getting older—Julia started middle school this year and Jacob is in second grade.

This year is our 25th Reunion and I hope to see a lot of our classmates! In the meantime, please continue to send in updates, and if anyone finds themselves in Chicago, get in touch!

Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com