Hi, fellow ’09ers. Hope everyone is well in the new year. We’ve gathered some notes from your classmates below:
Jess Eliot Myhre celebrated the first birthday of her baby, Monk Eliot Ousley, on Jan. 22. He’s fat, happy, and a genius.
Sophie Reagan lives in D.C. with her husband and dog. She works at Deloitte “trying to help the government one well-aligned PowerPoint deck at a time. We capped off a great summer of Wes weddings, celebrating Sophia Dumaine, Jodie Rubenstein, and Stephanie Pfeiffer ’08.”
Avital Fischer is a resident in pediatrics at Duke in Durham, N.C.
Joe Newman is now senior legal counsel at Ubisoft. He writes, “Anyone looking for a video game contact in the Bay Area can drop me a line!”
Brittany Delany writes, “Cheers to 2018! Resolutions: Build dance pieces. Connect with creatives through my work at La Quinta Arts Foundation and California Desert Arts Council. Sarah Ashkin ’11 and I performed a new duet for The New Feminist Gaze, an art show co-curated by Simeon Den Gallery and Wyld Womx.
Finally, former football teammates Spencer Platt and Peter Overman both welcomed baby boys in December, Nolan Platt and Ollie Overman. “Hopefully someday they will lift together.”
Stephanie Pfeiffer and Michael Stinetorf had so much fun celebrating their marriage vows with multigenerational Wes friends and family in Montana in July 2017, including Steve Pfeiffer’69, Vic Pfeiffer ’71, Jil Zilligen ’90 and Chris Schedler’90, Victoria Metz ’99, Emily Pfeiffer-Russell’05, Alex Pfeiffer Reynolds’06, Reinhardt Schuhmann’06 and Sage Norman, Katie Fabac, Rosina Belcourt, Kate Zyskowski, Rachel Firestone, Jessica Jones, Liat Olenick, Jordyn Lexton, Sarah Meier-Zimbler, Sophie Reagan ’09, Kaya Ceci’13, and Andrew Pfeiffer’13!
Caroline Raclin writes, “2017 was a crazy year! I’ve been managing emergency health programs in Yemen, Iraq, and South Sudan with the International Rescue Committee. I also moved my ’home base’ to Stuttgart, Germany, so if anyone is ever traveling around southern Germany, let me know!”
Louis Langlois and Peter Mitchell James went fishing on the San Joaquin delta outside of San Francisco four days before Christmas. They didn’t catch anything. Lucas Carrico ’09, Michael Walker, Daisy Holman ’07, Ramona Holman-Walker (future class of ’25), Josh Ente and Eddie Klein attended Louis Langlois’ Annual Hanukah Latke Party in San Francisco. Mike started a grease fire, and Eddie took part in his first music jam session accompanied by Lucas on the tenor sax.
Karla Hargrave is working with soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause to expand the worldwide network of soundscape ecologists who contribute hard data to wilderness conservation efforts and to strengthen society’s awareness of the importance of the sounds of the natural world. She completed solo pilot expeditions in Chile’s Patagonia and Colombia’s Amazon Rainforest to establish sites for ongoing studies.
Hello classmates! Megan (Kretz) Harrington here to give you the latest news. From career advancements to new family additions, we’ve been busy.
Kara Schnoes writes, “Kim Davies recently married a great guy named Jesse Blitzstein. The wedding was held in Philadelphia last September. And Julia Mergendoller had her first little one, Aviv Gilbyrd, in November.”
Cortney (Tetrault) Duncan welcomed a baby boy, Blake Alexander Duncan, on Nov. 27. She is still working at the Kent School.
Kathleen Day shares news of more potential alumni. She had a daughter, Natalie, born in 2016. She is a project manager for Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer based. She writes, “I am enormously fortunate that my partner takes care of our daughter full-time.”
Kathleen adds, “We caught up with Janine (Criscuolo) and Ben Sax and their adorable daughter Zoë over the summer during their visit from Los Angeles. Liam McAlpine and his husband, Sam Gulino, also visited from Philadelphia.”
Matthew Brownstein writes, “I live in NYC with my wife, Hillary, and my 11/2 year old son, Felix. I taught for eight years in middle and high school levels and now I am in the world of administration. I am an assistant principal at an elementary school in Queens. Yvonne Berkel’90 is a wonderful teacher at my school.”
Laura Catana lives in Havana, Cuba, and is the label manager at Havana’s first independent urban music label, Guampara Music. She is also opening an Afrocuban house of music and culture, a space to help connect foreign travelers with the local music and arts scene in Havana. Look out for Guampara 165, opening in summer 2018! She also works in tourism in Havana, so feel free to find her and ask for some travel help if you’re planning to head to the island soon!
Matthew Gregory and wife Lena moved to Boston after living in the Bay Area. They are expecting their first child, a boy, in April.
Victoria (Santoro) Mair married William Mair on Oct. 28 in Somerville, Mass. A strong Wesleyan contingent was present for the nuptials! Additionally, Victoria was recently voted a shareholder at her law firm.
Jesse Nasta has some exciting career news to report, saying, “I completed my PhD in history at Northwestern University last summer. This year, I am a visiting assistant professor of African American Studies at Wesleyan. I would always be very happy to see any classmates who are passing through campus.”
The wedding of Ian MacLeod ’07
Meanwhile, Ian MacLeod organized his own mini-reunion over this summer. He reports, “I married Jennifer Brownfield on July 15 in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California. Tim Radcliff, Piotr Brzezinski, and Alex Early were in attendance. We all had a great time!”
And finally, Scout James reports that he will be performing in his final show at Juilliard—Waiting for Godot—before he graduates with an MFA in May.
Please keep sending your updates, career news, and life events to us.
Amelia Geggel passed away in April 2016 after a long battle with cancer. Her family has established the Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship in her memory. At Wesleyan, Amelia was a religion major. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Chile and she graduated with honors a year later.
Amelia was hearing impaired from birth, yet this never stopped her from pursuing her passions. She discovered her love for animals and the environment at an early age and, by the fifth grade, was a “moral vegetarian.” At the age of 26, she was diagnosed with sarcoma, but still she persisted. In the following six years, she got married (to a carnivore who shared her dry sense of humor), completed a master’s degree in public health, and worked full-time as an environmentalist.
The Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship will exist in perpetuity in Amelia’s memory to provide financial aid for students, with demonstrated financial need who are interested in environmental science or environmental studies. If you’d like to contribute to this fund, please go to give.wesleyan.edu and indicate that you would like to give to the Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship.
Jeremy Paul is still making theater in Cleveland, though since his current projects include an interactive fiction game, multidisciplinary happenings, and a storytelling puzzle box, “theater” really needs several layers of quotes. His company, Theater Ninjas moved into a permanent headquarters near Cleveland Public Theatre, where his wife, Faye Hargate, is director of community ensembles.
Booth Haley’s son, Meru Haley, is 11/2 years old now. He’s living in Berkeley with wife Iris and working in San Francisco Chinatown at a community dental clinic. Amar Shibli, Boris Lukanov ’04, Meredith Cowart, Zeb Zankel, and Kevin Haas all live about 10 minutes away and they hike in the East Bay Hills whenever it’s sunny.
Nicole Concepción and her husband, Joe Hankin, are enjoying working in the fintech sector in San Francisco. They bought their first house in Oakland,and are looking forward to becoming new parents in early February. Nicole loves staying in touch with Wes friends across the U.S., like Heather Heckman, Danielle Lemone, Shannon McIntyre Hooper, and Kat Kopit via monthly Google Hangouts. She caught up with Ethan Leinwand while he performed delightful blues piano on tour.
Niv Elis is hosting a daily news politics podcast for The Hill, called HillCast.
Vermont’s legislature enacted a pioneering statewide retirement plan for small businesses, and Sivan Cotel was appointed to the seven-member board that will implement and oversee the plan.
Katie Walsh lives in Los Angeles, where she works as a film critic for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times, and occasionally makes radio appearances on KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand. In 2017, she was accepted into the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
Courtney Devon Taylor was named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2017 list of “Women of Distinction.” The prestigious recognition honors leading businesswomen in the Philadelphia region for professional achievement, dedication to mentorship, and community involvement. Courtney is counsel in the litigation department of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP and vice-chair of the Securities Litigation Practice Group.
Asher Brown created High Cuisine, a cooking competition show for Verizon/go90 where professional chefs get stoned and then compete to create amazing plant-based dishes. Season One began airing in November and runs through the end of February. Free to watch at go90.com.
In April, Erin Malone and partner Brian Guy, welcomed Josephine Marie into the world. As a new mom, Erin continues to build her business, Momo’s Market, in the Old North End neighborhood of Burlington. Visitors are always welcomed!
Anna Seastrand started as assistant professor of art history at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in the fall. She’d love to meet other Wes alumni in the area!
Kate Reder Sheikh and her husband, Nadeem, welcomed their son Dominic in October. They returned to San Francisco after living in Singapore and London.
Noah and Julia Bruckner Newman are happy to announce the arrival of their second daughter, Chloe Sofia, in December, joining big sister Hannah. Noah is still working at Pixar and Julia is an ob-gyn at Kaiser.
Michael Lewis married David Scott in Lewes, Del., on Sept. 30. Kate Nattrass, Robert Zeliger, Zoe Levy, Shana Simmons, Matt Fox, and Jilian Vallade were in attendance. Michael and David met almost 10 years ago in Miami, where both were on extended business trips, and they started dating in 2015.
Tejas Desai is preparing to release his international crime trilogy The Brotherhood Chronicle. You can visit his website tejas-desai.com for up-to-date information.
George Obulutsa is at Reuters News in Nairobi. During 2017, he managed to meet with Ben Schelling ’04 and Devyani Srinivasan’01 during the year.
On Oct. 5, Matt Kushner and Lauren Edgar Kushner (Brown ’04) welcomed their second child, Theresa Eve. At three months, Tessa is thriving, smiling, and just starting to laugh. “Big sister Marian is as in love with her as we are.” In the working world, Matt is still at Method Studios in Chelsea, where he just finished working on the visual effects for Justin Timberlake’s newest music video, “Filthy.” Lauren is still at the American Museum of Natural History, modernizing their permanent exhibits with the use of visual effects and AR/VR technology.
Gabriela Herman’s seven-year photo project, The Kids: The Children of LGBTQ Parents in the USA, was released last fall. For the book she photographed and interviewed 100 subjects about their experiences having an LGBTQ parent.
Last summer, Matt Lerner and his wife, Chelsea Finn, welcomed their second child, Sawyer, into the world. His older brother, Everett, is 4-years-old, and loves singing “Rock-a-bye Baby” to his little brother when he cries; Sawyer seems to like this, too. Matt is an assistant professor of psychology, psychiatry, and pediatrics in the clinical psychology program at Stony Brook University, where he runs an autism research program studying treatments for kids and teens with social challenges.
Arcelie Reyes and Evan Newell ’02 started 2018 with a transatlantic crossing in early January, boarding the Queen Mary 2 during the Northeast “bomb cyclone.” Arcelie is impressed at how quickly all three of their children got their sea legs.
Ted Quinn and Laurie Shaner Quinn welcomed their second child, Henry Kieran Quinn, on Dec. 25. Elsie, Henry’s 3-year-old sister, now believes that Santa Claus is capable of bringing her anything since she got the baby brother that she started asking him for it this past spring.
Sarah Erlinder still lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., where she continues to work as a public defender. Sarah and her husband, Charlie, welcomed baby Zeke to the family this fall. He and big brother Caleb, age 3, keep their parents on their toes.
On Feb. 22, Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg and his wife, Lauren, welcomed their daughter, Lucey Rose. They bought a house in Decatur and Jesse works as senior digital scholarship strategist at the Emory University Center for Digital Scholarship.
Sunny Chyun ’02 is the winner of the 36th United Overseas Bank (UOB) Painting of the Year Award for her linen artwork titled. Dyspraxia. The UOB judges said, “[We] were impressed by the artwork’s details which consisted of various embroidered patterns created with a mix of threads, acrylic, oil and glow-in-the-dark paint.” She was honored at an awards ceremony in November. Chyun was a studio arts major at Wesleyan and earned an MFA from the Korean National University of Arts.
Congratulations are in order for Una LaMarche and Jeff Zorbedian. They welcomed their second son, Max, on Nov. 5, joining his 6-year-old brother Sam. Congrats also to Ben Goldstein and his wife, Cheng Li, who welcomed their second son, Noah Li Goldstein, in December. Big brother Malcolm is loving having a younger brother. Ben is an assistant professor of biostatistics at Duke University.
Speaking of second children, I (Justin Lacob) had a second daughter with my wife, Melanie, in October. We named her Juliette Violet Lacob; she joins big sister Scarlett. We also moved to a new house in the wilds of the Hollywood Hills, where we all fall asleep listening to howling coyotes and hooting owls.
Also want to extend congratulations to Paul Kim and his wife, Mirjam, who celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary and moved to their new home in Brooklyn Heights in November.
And, congrats to Lin-Manuel Miranda for winning his third Grammy this year for Best Song Written for Visual Media for “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana movie.
Britton Boyd went to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria with the FBI’s first relief team. They distributed food, water, tarps, baby food, and Britton calls this “the highlight of his career so far.” And after spending a year in Pakistan, Eric Donelan and his wife, Danielle, moved with their three children–Grant (5), Wyatt (3), and Freya (1)—to Budapest, Hungary, where he still works for the Diplomatic Security Service of the Department of State as a supervisory special agent and security attaché.
Aaron Schwartz “is excited to see his small business, Ayurvedic Mouthwash Company, YALA, excel nationally and internationally, entering major market stores like Free People and Anthropologie.” Meanwhile, his pediatric dental practice in Atlanta continues to grow. He and his wife, Thea Delage ’04, are keeping busy with their son, Martin. Lauren Geller Rascoff lives in Denver, Colo., with her husband, Sam, and their three children–Jonah (8), Roselle (6), and Joely (2). Lauren is a urogynecologist at the University of Colorado and “loves it!” And Caitlin Hardy lives in Collingswood, N.J., with her husband, Jeff, and their daughter, Savannah. She is finishing her radiology residency at Cooper Hospital and will be staying on next year as a women’s imaging fellow.
Ryan Akers is a brewer at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, after managing the filtration department. He also had another child, Victor, who is 11/2 years old. Lexi Keeler is working at Summer Search in fund development and lives in Seattle with her wife and kids (Emmett, 6, Will, 4, and Harper, who is also 4). And Sunny Chyun was awarded the winner of the 36th United Overseas Bank Painting of the Year–Singapore in November. She would like to thank the Freeman Foundation, her studio arts advisor, Keiji Shinohara, and Wesleyan studiomate, Dave Golden.
Mara here! Welcome to Class Notes, fake news edition. Most of these updates are completely true, but some include falsehoods provided by your classmates. Can you find them?
Jenny Selgrath writes, “I just finished my PhD (small-scale fisheries and coral reef conservation) from The University of British Columbia, worked as a spatial analyst for Fisheries and Oceans Canada for a bit, and then moved back to San Francisco where I am just starting a post-doc at Stanford (projects on tipping points in coral reefs and on biodiversity changes in Monterey Bay). And of course, I have been catching up with the awesome folks from Wesleyan who live in the Bay Area.”
Chris and Wendy Jeffries enjoy living in Baltimore (they welcome visitors!) and were excited to welcome their second daughter, Maya, on Nov. 29. Her big sister, Elena, 3, is very excited to have a little sister to share her love of sports, music, and cooking. Wendy is keeping busy as the executive director of TasteWise Kids, a nonprofit that teaches kids through hands-on experience about where their food comes from and to make healthy choices. Chris continues to enjoy practicing law as a partner at Kramon & Graham, where he is a principal. His firm wrote in to tell us that he’s been recognized as a Rising Star by Maryland Super Lawyers 2018 for his work in civil litigation, and has been selected to appear in the directory every year since 2010.
Rachel Stevens writes, “We welcomed daughter Eliza Merrill Stevenson an Aug. 13, and she won a guaranteed place in the Wes class of ’39.”
Makeda Dawson-Davis ’01 and her two sons
I was so happy to connect with Makeda Dawson-Davis, who wrote: “I have been loving birth and postpartum doula work for the past three years, first with Ancient Song Doula Services and now with Healthy Start Brooklyn. I’ve just finished training with Doula Trainings International to continue my certification! I look forward to increasing my practice with private birth and postpartum clients in NYC areas for births at home, in the hospital, and at birthing centers. My personalized lactation support will also continue with another round of certified lactation counselor training. Lastly, my two sons are 9 and 6, and are enjoying elementary school where they take robotics, capoeira, karate, and graphic novel design, along with their academic subjects.”
Louis Bronk was promoted to assistant superintendent for personnel and talent development for the Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut. Meriden is the school district he attended as a student, and in 2012 he returned as an employee.
Joey Conover is now a realtor, just took her two children on a vacation to Colombia, and voted for Trump.
Katie Davis Reich writes, “My husband Jason and I welcomed our first child, Sylvia, into the world in October. We’re still living on the east side of LA, where we bought a house a few years ago like real grown-ups. I’m working at UCLA as associate director of the Center for Climate Science, where I focus on communications and outreach, and am very sorry to report that climate change is not fake news.”
Adriana Jones Laser had a son in November. The other two are doing well. “Otherwise not much news, continuing my life as a vascular surgeon and my husband’s as a radiation oncologist up here in upstate New York.”
Katie Clyde, in her fourth term in the Ohio House, is running for Secretary of State (election in November 2018) in battleground Ohio to save our democracy. She is Not accepting any further contributions to support her campaign at kathleenclyde.com/donate. “We have one Wesleyan alum on staff (Cade Leebron ’14) and are always accepting gung-ho Wes volunteers!”
My toddler still talks about our fantastic recent trip to Philly. We stayed with Ben Stanko and his family, saw The Kud (D.B.A. Jesse Kudler), and even got to witness Ali Stumacher’s son’s surprisingly poetic dance solo at his fifth birthday party. On the way there, we stayed with Mary Robertson in Brooklyn, and our toddlers became instant brothers. They’re both still muttering about a dust-up involving a child-sized armchair. We even stopped in Middletown, and went to Kid City (awesome) and Tibetan Kitchen (delicious). The trip was a little touch-and-go because the giant, shimmering, rose-gold eagle we rode kept almost ensnaring bystanders in her talons. Totally worth it, though.
Glossary of Untruths: R.C.: No guaranteed spot. J.C.: Did not vote for Trump. K.C.: Is accepting donations. M.V.: Eagle was silver.
Jeff Blumenthal is modeling the spatial distribution of oyster drill snails (urosalpinx cinerea) across various environmental conditions in Richardson Bay, Calif. If he does a good job, SFSU will give him a master’s degree. He rents a house in Albany, Calif., with a girlfriend, two dogs, two roommates, some bicycles, and an old car with a lot of Richardson Bay mud on it.
Last spring, Aimee Dawson was in New York for a course in narrative medicine and stayed with Bessie Wilkerson, woke up to a view of the sunrise over the water in Hastings-on-Hudson, and met her two sweet children. On the same trip, she accidentally walked by Trump Tower with Aaron Yowell, but scampered safely home across the border to Quebec where they are well.
Greg Brodsky and his wife, Heather, were married in late 2016, moved from Somerville to Jamaica Plain, Mass., and welcomed baby boy Oscar on Dec. 4.
Eli Beckerman is happy to announce the birth of his first child, Maya Beckerman-Greenberg, on Jan. 26. He’s psyched to be a new old dad.
Tara Cohen and her partner, Jess, welcomed their second child into the world, Sage Humphrey Cohen-Flintoft. Sage brings lots of joy to his parents and big brother Oscar (the dog and cats aren’t so sure.) Tara grows more and more accustomed to the four-season lifestyle of Ann Arbor, Mich., but still experiences occasional pangs of homesickness for the Bay Area. Last November marked one year at her new job managing the Community Development Block Grant Program.
A new book by Kate Holbein Rademacher ’99
Kate Holbein Rademacher lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with her husband, David, stepson Soren, and daughter Lila. She works in international public health with a focus on increasing access to birth control in developing countries. She got a fun surprise on her 40th birthday from Elsie Kagan, who showed up at her door unannounced. In addition to visits with Elsie and Carl Robichaud, Kate enjoys hanging out with Brook Wilensky-Lanford (who also lives in Chapel Hill), Erica Carpenter Witsell’97, who lives in Asheville, N.C., and Shanna Handel (who also has a daughter named Lyla). Kate visited Mia Lipman Irwin and her husband in Seattle. Kate had her debut memoir published, Following the Red Bird. Kate is in regular touch with Gary Comstock, retired sociology professor and chaplain at Wesleyan, and she’s grateful for his support as she was writing and publishing the book.
Celina Su’s first book of poetry, Landia, came out last spring. After focusing on poetry at Wesleyan, she spent her time since then on social science research. These poems draw upon more than a decade of fieldwork, collaborative projects, and long-term relationships with specific immigrant communities and social justice organizations in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and throughout the U.S.
Leila Buck’s American Dreams & Arabian Nights was performed Dec. 7-8 at BRIC House Artist Studio in Brooklyn. Weaving storytelling, dreams, music, and more, this playful work-in-progress invites audiences into an interactive exploration of who we let into our hearts, families, and nations—and how those choices shape who we are.
Marianna Ellenberg’s new play, Pawel & Ebola, was performed at The Kitchen in NYC in February.
After 14 years in TV news, Aaron Weiss jumped into environmental advocacy a couple of years ago. He’s at the Center for Western Priorities, defending America’s public lands and holding Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s feet to the fire. He also hosts CWP’s Go West, Young Podcast, which has been a blast. It’s been great meeting all the Wes alumni in the conservation community. He and his wife, Lauren, live in the mountains outside of Denver with two kids, two dogs, two cats, a handful of chickens, and however many elk happen to be wandering through the front yard.
Last year, Danielle Lazier moved her real estate business to Compass. She works hard and still has fun selling San Francisco real estate. Her twins, Phoenix and Ari, are nearly 2 now, and they moved into a new home in Noe Valley.
Zack Becker’s wife, Amy Martin, is running for judge in one of the criminal district courts in Harris County, Texas (facebook.com/amyforjudge).
Left to right: Gaby Alter ’97, Brandon Patton ’95, Josh Hanye ’95, Aaron Yowell ’99, Greg Tuzzolo ’00, Matt Steckler ’97, Dan Koulomzin ’99, Anand Nayak ’96, Divya Kumar ’99, Zak Patten ’95, Sara Mason ’00, Whitney Scharer ’99, Arthur Baraf ’99, Ryan Scharer ’99
In 2017, Dan Koulomzin and Divya Kumar celebrated turning 40 and being together for 20 years, and they had the good fortune of celebrating with many Wes alumni and a fantastic Wes band!
In February, Kevin went to the Stone & Rail, a great new restaurant that just opened in Glen Rock, N.J. He spotted one of the owners working to make sure they were off to a great start, and it was none other than classmate Dave Feit! Food was fantastic, and the crowd was a testament to great planning by Dave and team.”
Speaking of 20 years, next May will be our 20th Reunion! Email Jennifer Opalacz at jopalacz@wesleyan.edu if you’re interested in becoming a member of the planning committee. Hope to see you back on campus.
Anthony Veneziale’s new series, Bartlett, premiered on Amazon. Bill Sherman ’02 was music supervisor and Evan Shapiro P’17 was executive producer. Anthony was in another series called The Mortified Guide where he played an adult version of Harry Potter in a gay erotica fan-fiction piece. He had a mini-reunion with Tommy Kail’99, Sara Miller’02, Alex Horwitz’02, and Suzanne Appel’02 at Lin-Manuel Miranda’02’s birthday party in NYC.
Amanda Palmer lives in Woodstock, N.Y, but is constantly traveling the world and trying to figure out where to settle. She has a 2-year-old named Anthony.
Anne Thomas and her husband, Andy, attended the marriage of Shelby Tillett’98 and Matteo Gallo on June 24. In attendance were Kate Berry Grant, Abe Forman-Greenwald, Christine Treveloni Reidenbach, Ryan Chamberlain’00, Matt Feeney ’99, Jake Fay’00, Matt Perceval’00, and Heather Cohen Perceval ’02. She makes summer visits to Middletown to show her children Lucy (9) and Drew (7) their future alma mater. She often sees Makaela Steinberg and Matt Kingsley ’98, and their children Amelia and Eli. Anne is serving on our 20th Reunion committee and looks forward to connecting with many of you in May!
Claire Skorski Garland lives in her hometown, Golden, Colo., with her husband and two boys. She is a psychotherapist working in crisis assessment and counseling.
Laura Ayala is president of the board for Upward Scholars. The Upward Scholars mission is to empower low-income adults, mostly immigrants, by providing them financial, academic, and community support so they can continue their education, get better jobs, and serve as role models for their community.
Sara Brenneis and her husband, Eric, welcomed their second child, Malcolm, on Thanksgiving Day. Her book on Spaniards in the Mauthausen concentration camp comes out in April with The University of Toronto Press. She’s an associate professor of Spanish at Amherst College and will be in Madrid on sabbatical during the 2019-20 academic year. If any Wes alumni are living in Spain, she’d enjoy being in touch.
Amanda Green Marini lives in Oakland, Calif., with her husband, Paul, and their two kids. She teaches English and film at Berkeley with Matt Albinson ’97 and John Becker’03. She tested for her third-degree black belt in jujitsu. She often sees Mike Della Penna and Summer Halas.
Jessica Cortes is a partner at Davis & Gilbert in NYC. She hosted a Wesleyan Lawyer’s Association networking event in March. She lives with her husband, Lee, and their children in Westfield, N.J. She was proud to co-organize the Second Annual Westfield Women’s March in January, where there were close to 2,000 attendees and speakers including public officials, candidates, members of women’s organizations, and several young children, including her two daughters. She caught up with Daisy Voorhees Bokus and Heather Cunningham Ostrowski.
This year Marianne Benet’s son, Henry, who is 8 years and was born with a rare genetic disorder called Angelman Syndrome, walked 22 consecutive steps independently for the first time! Marianne and her family didn’t know if they would ever see him walk. She and husband Ben have two other sons, Zac (10) and Billy (5). Marianne has put her career in microfinance on hold to be a full-time mom and to help Henry reach his full potential. She keeps in touch with Miki Kawashima, Jeff Matrician, Heather Marciniec, Erin (Fieler) Collins, Andrew Hall, and Isabel Vega.
Keisha Robinson is married with two boys. She acquired her master’s in chemistry from NYU Polytechnic Institute and works as a clinical quality assurance manager dealing with radiopharmaceutical oncology or cancer drug treatments for advanced accelerator applications.
Joshua Stedman’s band, Brothers of Others, released an EP in June (brothersofothers.com).
Adam Abel and his partners founded the nonprofit SkateQilya, which uses skateboarding and art to teach community building and leadership skills to girls and boys in Palestine. It was featured on NBC, CNN, and the cover of Haaretz. Viceland will be airing an episode about it.
Steve Engel was promoted to a full professor in the Bates College department of politics, which he chairs. He got to see Adrienne Lucas who came up from the University of Delaware, where she is a professor, to give a talk to the department.
Markell Parker is executive director of Summer on the Hill, a nonprofit academic enrichment program for low-income public school students in the Bronx, Harlem, and Washington Heights. Markell resides in his hometown of the Bronx where he is raising his 7-year-old son, Malcolm.
We would also like to issue a correction. The notice of the passing of our classmate Marc James Augustine was included in the notes for the class of ’99 instead of being included in our class of which he was a part. It was brought to our attention by his brother who wanted to make sure that his fellow classmates were made aware. Marc passed away suddenly on Oct. 26, 2014, at his home in Durham, N.C. Marc leaves behind his wife Cynthia (Bland) Augustine, brothers Mikael James Augustine and Gerald Darin Augustine, two aunts, and several cousins.
