Class Notes

We will be meeting soon in Middletown for our 30th Reunion, so here is a brief update from some of your classmates.

Dan Barrett has a new book: Social Psychology: Core Concepts and Emerging Trends (Sage Press); he is a professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, happily married, and living in Redding, Conn. In the same field, Alex Rothman remains busy with research and teaching as a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota and continues to enjoy life in Minneapolis. Son #1 is at Bowdoin, so there’s only one at home who is barely surviving now as the sole focus of attention. Alex looks forward to catching up with folks in May.

Also in Minnesota, Lydia Crawford is still with Wells Fargo, working in the law department as a consumer credit attorney, and her husband Phil Davies is also in the financial industry as an editor writer for the publications of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. “Neither of us would ever have thought that our careers would lead us to banking, but such are the vagaries of life. Our two kids appear to have outgrown us in every way—Owen (17) quite literally, as he is the tallest in the family by several inches—although we do manage to have dinner together almost every night and have a little family outing most weekends just to take us away from our respective screens, work, activities, etc.”

Tavy Ronen lives in NYC with her 16-year-old daughter and is a finance professor at Rutgers University. She is the founding director of the Business of Fashion Programs at Rutgers Business School and of the Business of Fashion Research Center. Tavy is the academic affiliate of Stanford Consulting Group and provides expert testimony on securities litigation cases, primarily in matters relating to credit markets and market microstructure. When not working on the above, she runs The Yarn Company, a groovy art-fiber yarn store in Manhattan, which she owns with her brother.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus says her business, ImpactADHD.com continues to expand globally, providing behavior management and parent training for parents of complex kids around the globe. Last year, she did workshops in London and Melbourne and she’s also working on a book.

Paula Holm Jensen noted that after 22 years as a lawyer, 18 years in Portland, Ore., and 11 years in solo practice (IP, technology licensing and commercial contracts), she joined one of her long-time clients as general counsel this March. “For fun, I sing in a choir dedicated to performing Bach cantatas and other baroque works, and I root for Portland’s pro soccer teams: the Timbers, Thorns and T2. I haven’t missed a Reunion since graduation, so you’ll find me—as always—at Alpha Delt.”

Ellen Santistevan wrote about her children: “My children are taking center stage as they move into adulthood. My youngest son, Mark, graduates from high school this spring. My middle child, Dorothe, is getting married one week after that (and so I’ll miss Reunion). My firstborn child came out as transgender last spring and now goes by the name Felix. That’s been perhaps the biggest one to deal with, although overall, planning a wedding is more stressful. My eldest daughter, Lauren, has a sweet little girl that I get to baby sit sometimes, and her older son is going into high school this fall.”

Daniel Seltzer writes about his music. “I could write about empty nest, work stories, feeling my age…but I’ll just say that I’ve finally gotten back to playing music and love it passionately. While trying to make up for lost time, I’m playing funk/rock/blues/jazz with a variety of people in NYC and am always interested in meeting others who enjoy group improv with a deep groove. All the other stuff seems easier to deal with when you’ve got music in your life.”

Monica Jahan Bose is living in Washington, D.C., after many years in Tokyo, New York, and Paris. “I am still married to Michael S. Bennett ’87 (not the Senator!). We met in 1987 at Columbia Law and we have two daughters. I spend most of my time on what I call “artivism,” art and advocacy. Since 2012, I have been working on a collaborative project called Storytelling with Saris with women from my ancestral village in Bangladesh, drawing attention to issues of gender and climate change. This year, I am trying to make a film about the project.”

Brian Grzelkowski escaped D.C. after 10 years there. He moved with his son and wife Beatrix to rural Bucks County, Pa. “I had already switched from a career in international humanitarian aid to high school teaching, so trading a bustling city for an old stone house and some acres of land seemed like a good step in regaining quality of life. Beatrix has reestablished her psychotherapy and distance-counseling practice and I’m now rediscovering some of the outdoors and lumberjacking skills of my childhood in Maine. With the exception of regular taunts from brazen and hungry deer, we’re all settling in nicely, and hopefully a few Wes folks to stop by for a visit.”

From our Facebook Group, Nicholas Waltner says his daughter will be going to Wesleyan this fall. Timothy Burke notes he won’t be at Reunion; it’s exam period at Swarthmore. Andrea Wojnar Diagne is working to promote reproductive health in Africa. George Justice hopes to come to Reunion; he’s dean of humanities at Arizona State University and recovering (I hope) from his own nasty cancer year. Sandy Goldstein is living in Westchester, N.Y., and Mike Sealander “is alive and living in eastern Maine.” And the closing update: Steven Meyer and his wife, Julia, had a daughter in October—perhaps Elena will go to Wes 18 years from now!

Susanna Wenniger and Rudd Kierstead are still married after 23 years! Still living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Rudd is still working in healthcare, now as director of Physician Network at Weill Cornell, and still creating amazing food for all their friends. Susanna is still working for Artnet.com as the senior specialist of photographs for the online auctions. She writes, “We have a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old who are polar opposites in every way imaginable. I see a lot of Shirley Hedden ’82, as our kids went to the same neighborhood school and we are still part of the same Mom group for the past 12 years. Rudd lunches with Ben Sternlieb ’85 on a weekly basis. And I was thrilled to get a visit last summer from Sarah Flanders, who is practicing as a psychiatrist in Pittsburgh. Seeing her again made me realize how much I want to reconnect to so many of the people whom I have fallen out of touch with! I hope to make it to Reunion.”

Several have written me saying, “We’re not yet sure whether we can make Reunion, but are going to try. We know it’ll be a lot of fun!” See you soon.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Am I the only one excited about our 30th Reunion next year? (Don’t answer that.) By now, most of us have either embraced or are recovering from the trauma of turning 50. Many of us with kids are becoming empty nesters if we haven’t already, while some of us are starting new families—not to mention new careers! Whatever phase of life you are going through, please keep sharing it with us.

Let’s start with Holly Campbell Ambler: “I live in Cambridge, Mass., with my husband and two teenage daughters … sort of. My oldest, Nora, age 18, is currently living in Florida pursuing her interest in ballet (I still consider that living at home because I can’t get used to the idea that children grow up). My other daughter, Louise, is in 10th grade, and may even agree to visit Wes on her college visits next year! I am working as a social worker in an elementary school in Boston, a job I began this year. I see Trish and John Dorsey frequently, as well as Doug Koplow and family, and Dennis Mahoney. I also had fun catching up with many Davids (David Glotzer, David Josephs, David Igler ’88, and David Witkin) and their families when a few of us met in Chicago last May … did we really turn 50!?”

I love when different people write in about the same events, and I assume DJ is talking about the weekend Holly just detailed above. David Josephs writes: “I will soon be suffering from an empty nest, as my daughter graduates from college in May and I got a great new job. I just joined Visa and am semi-relocating from the Chicago suburbs to San Francisco. Also, a few of us from the class of ’87 who lived on or around what was then Knowles Avenue got together over Memorial Day (2015) weekend to celebrate our collective 50th birthdays.” (Everyone above was listed plus Cindy Willard ’88.)

Susan Arndt “got remarried in August, to Tracey, who is wonderful. She’s from the Gold Coast in Australia so shares my love of the ocean and the beach. Our relatives came from across the globe to share a big house in the country with us for a week and it was a really happy time. Tracey gave birth to our son, Tommy ,on July 8, and his older brothers Jake (11) and Angus (9) are besotted (as are we, of course). They are both growing quickly and filling as much time as possible with baseball, table tennis, gymnastics, music and, of course, Minecraft (homework, what’s that?). Tommy on the other hand is discovering the joys of food (more, please!) and trying desperately to crawl. After an early career in start-ups, and 10-plus-years running big delivery projects mostly in the media space, I’m back to my roots leading delivery for V-Nova, a small high-potential startup in data and video compression software. I keep in regular touch with Peg O’Connor, Amy Baltzell, and Stacy Owen. We’re still in London, where real estate prices are ridiculous but international access amazing.”

Dave Ryan is “currently living the dream, as a mostly-stay-at-home Dad … while working as the associate head writer of Days of Our Lives. My wife, Rachel, and Ripley, our 5-year-old daughter, accompanied me to the Oaxaca Filmfest, where my screenplay, Coffin, just took the top prize.”

Amy Baltzell is the editor of “a new book coming out, which I am very honored to be part of.” You can read about Mindfulness and Performance (Cambridge University Press) at cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/psychology/applied-psychology/mindfulness-and-performance. She adds, “I also became a teacher trainer for the mindful self-compassion program, which I am planning on bringing to sport. I started late with kids—so my tap dancing 10-year-old, rapidly growing 12-year-old basketball player and very tall 14-year-old ballerina are keeping me wildly busy.”

Matt Nestor is “proud and excited to say that my daughter, Miranda ’20, will be at Wesleyan!”

Brad Lubin’s daughter, Gillian ’20, will also be starting Wesleyan next fall and playing lacrosse. “Gillian’s decision to apply to Wesleyan ED1 was made several days after attending the Wesleyan fundraiser performance of Hamilton. Currently, the Hamilton soundtrack can be heard most nights throughout the house.”

In Dallas, Paul Zoltan helped to found the Child Refugee Support Network. Under his supervision the CRSN has, since August 2014, hosted more than 30 legal clinics to assist families and unaccompanied children complete and file applications for asylum. He’d love to hear from any Wes alums in Dallas—especially if they might be inclined to lend a hand.

Josh Bellin has a new novel, Scavenger of Souls (young adult science fiction), due to be published Aug. 23, 2016, by Simon & Schuster.

Sloane Smith Morgan writes that she has been “happily ensconced for the past 20-plus years in the SF Bay Area, and the last eight years I’ve been having great fun being part of the start-up team at Sungevity, currently the largest privately held solar company in the U.S. When not evangelizing about solar, I’m having fun with my husband, Nick, and our three sons, enjoying the best of California’s great outdoors, gardening and cooking with friends and family, and poking fun at expensive SFO real estate, customer experience, and ‘disruptive’ Bay Area tech.

Peg O’Connor “has a new book out this January titled, Life on the Rocks: Finding Meaning in Addiction and Recovery, with Central Recovery Press. It is part memoir and part philosophical ruminations on addiction as both cause and consequence of suffering. Since western philosophy has been grappling with questions about suffering, the meaning of life, and what counts as a good life or a life of flourishing, philosophy has a lot to offer anyone affected by addictions. Just about everyone in the US is somehow affected by addiction, whether one’s own or a family member’s or friend’s addiction.” [Ed. note: See page 16.]

That’s all the news for now. I hope everyone has a great summer! Much love,

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

Peter writes for this issue:

Andy Stewart won his third election as Orangetown, N.Y., town supervisor and is “excited to work on local government stuff for another two years. Rachel Grob and I are headed toward the 30th anniversary this September of our meeting in the reading room of the Science in Society Program, and just moved to a new house in Nyack, N.Y., a village on the Hudson River where we have lived since 1996. She is researching, publishing and organizing on issues of health care reform, working for the Center for Patient Partnerships at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. We recently brought our daughter, Talia, to the Wes campus for the Sons and Daughters program for learning about the college application process, and Rachel and I got a kick out of showing her our old haunts.”

Benjamin Junge is teaching anthropology at SUNY-New Paltz: “Had a great mini-reunion with Schuyler Frautschi and William Weiss last summer—The gents came to Beacon to see me make a fool of myself in an XTC cover band! On other fronts: I’ve just started a three-year, NSF-funded study of class mobility in Brazil; very exciting!”

Joey Xanders reports, “I am the proud mama of a baby kitten called Halo. She brings me great joy! I inherited this kitten from Clarence Thomas (CT) at the same time I signed on to manage him. CT is a young hip hop/R&B artist/musician from East Oakland. I’m also managing a music collective CT created called UMC (United Music Crew) filled with young urban rappers, singers, and gospel artists. On the other end of the spectrum of life, I have consulted to create a new fellowship for healthcare. It’s called the Carol B. Emmott Fellowship for Women Leaders in Healthcare. (I produced a 90-minute documentary on Carol which lead to the creation on this fellowship.) Lastly, I’m working on my book proposal on my experience as the founding director and co-creator of The Moth. If you attended The Moth anytime from 1997-2001, shoot me a story! All said, I’m most blessed with my 12-year-old son, Magnus, who is a stellar soul and ardent basketball player. Please drop a line if you’re in California.”

Bobbito Garcia shares: “Recently directed my second film, Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives (stretchandbobbito.com), and have been touring the world to promote the release. Also have the fourth season of my basketball tournament Full Court 21™ World Final (fullcourt21nyc.com) coming this summer, with qualifiers in Beijing, London, LA, Philadelphia, Chicago, Ghana, Mali, New Zealand, Toronto, and Vancouver. I’m most busy though raising my 2-year-old son.”

Cher Gray advises: “I am living a modest life in South Florida (been here over 20 years.) I am a freelance consultant in advertising. Always looking to extend my clientele list. Bummed that I haven’t had the time/opportunity to visit Wes in some time, but would like to change that in 2016.”

Andy Goldman writes in from the Pacific NW: “In September 2015, I was selected to become the Arnold Distinguished Professor at Gonzaga University, where I’ve been working now for 14 years. I’m very honored to have been selected, and for the next three years I’m appointed to act as something of a ‘champion’ of the humanities, working to promote them at our school and in our wider community. If anyone has any ideas on how I might best do this, I’m all ears (goldman@gonzaga.edu). This summer I also began as the field director for a new excavation project in Sinop, in northern Turkey on the Black Sea coast. We’re exploring ancient Sinope, a Greek colony and later the capital of the Pontic kingdom, with support from the NEH and National Geographic.”

David Silverberg chimes in from the Midwest: “I’m now director of the Telego Center for Educational Improvement at Ashland University in Ohio. We do university outreach to K–12 school districts to address contemporary needs for professional development, grants, curriculum audits, special events, etc. I am also a faculty member with ASCD International and, in that position, provide training and research for school districts around the country. I live in the Cleveland area with my wife and two children, now 7 and 9.”

Bruno Oliver recently hit the 20-year mark in Los Angeles. “I would have considered the very idea [of living in LA] ‘insane.’ It’s ‘home’ now, but I still yearn for Chicago—the Lake, Lincoln Park, apartments with long hallways, and neighborhood bars with half-lit Old Style signs that beckon safety in a snowstorm. Still acting, hopefully I’ll be on your TVs more this year than last. Also teaching, coaching, and consulting for actors. Last year I became board president of Sacred Fools Theater Company, one of the busiest and most important forces in L.A. small theater.”

C.C. (Crichlow) Clark: “I live in Arlington, Va. I have been doing college visits with my son. The last time I was on campus I ran into Eric Greene ‘90. He is working at UCLA. I also had dinner with Ingrid Gordon this summer when she was in northern Virginia for work.”

Steve Morison is in Rome with his wife and daughter, “working and living at St. Stephen’s School. All is well. In the last month, I’ve visited with Paul Gosselin and Amy Madigan Simmons ’91, both in Paris.”

PETER V.S. BOND | 007@pvsb.org

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Class of 1989 Scholarship

Joanna Korpanty ’18, Bristol, Conn.

Kristen Montas Graves writes: “It was a sad occasion that brought a number of us together for a mini Wes reunion the first weekend in December. For those of you who may not have heard, beloved Professor Jerry G. Watts passed away Nov. 16th. Jerry only taught at Wes for a few years of his career, yet for those of us who knew him, he was a major part of our Wesleyan experience, and his influence shaped the trajectories of many of our own careers today. Al Young ’88 assisted Jerry’s wife, Traci West, in organizing the event, which took place at The New York Society for Ethical Culture. He, along with his wife, Carla O’Connor ’88, my husband Fred Montas ’88, Amy Randall, and Eric Greene ’90 all gave moving tributes, highlighting his intellectual acuity and the genuinely caring manner he had with all whom he met. Many Wes folk were in the house including Hellura Lyle, Allison Downer, Melinda Weekes, Schuyler Allen ’90, Jessica Roseman ’90, Julie Doar-Sinkfield ’90, Eve Goldberg ’90, Yanique LeCadre ’88, Ian Friday ’87, and Dianne Stewart ’85. Our hearts were heavy, but we felt the light of his presence as we shared laughs and hugs remembering a truly great man.” Kristen also saw Mary Kate O’Toole Mellow over the holidays.

Laura Hamilton Hardin lives near Houston, with her second husband, Dan Hardin, and two children from her first marriage. On 25 acres, they have 10 dogs, 10 horses, about 20 chickens, two potbelly pigs and two cats. Daughter Samantha (18) is studying animal science at Texas A&M and is planning to pursue a veterinary degree, and son Michael (16) is starting on the Magnolia High School JV football team. Laura provides expert testimony on damages issues for large international arbitrations. She recently resumed horseback riding to relieve the stress of her demanding career.

Amy E. Randall teaches history and women’s and gender studies at Santa Clara University in California. Her latest publication, Genocide and Gender in the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Survey (Bloomsbury) is a collection of genocide studies that examines gendered discourses, practices, and experiences of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the 20th century. Amy and Mathew Reed ’91 have two children, Zaria (7) and Zeiler (12). They inspired Amy to perform last year in the parent/staff/faculty cast of Annie at her daughter’s school.

Alexander Chee’s new novel, The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), was released Feb. 2, 2016. His first novel, Edinburgh, is being reissued and has been optioned by the composer Stefan Weisman and the librettist David Coates, who intend to adapt it into an opera. Alex lives in NYC with his partner, Dustin Schell, where they are adapting The Scarlet Professor (Barry Werth’s biography of Newton Arvin)into a feature film. This fall he will be a visiting writer at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Andrea Morse is married to her reading and budget-travel partner, best friend and love of her life, Bill Kehr. They live in the Chicago area, where she has her own clinical psychology practice. She recently gave birth to their son, Zander Asher, and has two wonderful step-kids: one in college, the other heading to medical school. In her teensy spare time she performs with a professional Hawaiian/Polynesian dance company.

Liz Marx left being a casting director several years ago to become a college counselor. While she hasn’t yet had one of her kids attend Wesleyan, she remains optimistic!

Rabbi Jen Feldman recently celebrated 13 rich and rewarding years serving Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jeffrey Naness is practicing law on Long Island, representing businesses in employment and labor matters. He is married, with two sons, Jonathan and Michael, and plays keyboards in a charity rock band (Equity) and a Latin jazz quartet (Gazpacho Bop).

Eric Simon published the second edition of his college biology textbook Biology: The Core. Eric’s books have been translated into seven languages and are used in more than 40 countries. He still lives in rural New Hampshire with his wife, two boys (12 and 14), 20 or so chickens, three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and a leopard gecko.

Karen McVey Fussell remains happily married with two children (9 and 12). She lives on 45 acres near Bangor, in a 100-plus-year-old farmhouse, which they recently renovated. She has been finance director for a neighboring city for the past 15 years, a job she loves and that allows her to work on many diverse issues, including recycling and the development of a next generation waste-to-energy facility.

Dave Keller is living in Montpelier, Vt., raising two daughters, and being a musician. He’s excited about a new album of original soul/blues songs that should be released in September. His last CD was a “breakup album”, so he’s thinking of this one as his “over-the-hump album.”

Jeff Brez and his husband, Adriano, are daddy and papa to twin boys, born November 2014. They also recently gave away their already-adult daughter at an unforgettable wedding in SoCal. Jeff is with the UN Department of Public Information in New York, where he partners with both NGOs and the creative community to raise awareness about UN issues around the world.

After more than 20 years, Jane Randel left the fashion industry and started a social impact consulting firm, Karp Randel LLC. She also cofounded NOMORE.org, and is one of four advisers to the NFL on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault education. She has done similar work for NASCAR.

Stephanie Dolgoff writes: “All hail, Susan Paley, who orchestrated getting 10 of us to Sonoma from as far as NYC (Natalie Dorset, Betsey Schmidt, and I) and West Virginia (that would be the serene and brilliant Lesley Savin). Much and varied wine was consumed and sorely felt (at least by me) for some time after. The Micheles (Chase and Barnwell) were as lovely as when they were roommates on Foss 6, and Caron Selati looked like she must have carried her two now-teenage babies in her handbag, in such great shape was she. Jennifer Levine, fresh off numerous professional triumphs, and I bunked together, and Laura Flaxman and I got to spend some time discussing how nice it is to have finally embraced our relatively benign vices.” Stephanie also saw Lynne Lazarus and Andrew Shear at their home in Oakland, Calif.

Melissa Herman is going through the college process with her son, which brings back her own memories and nightmares of that experience. She is looking forward to another sabbatical in Berlin where her son can check out the—free!—German universities. There, she will also work on a research project on German and American understandings of race.

Indy Neidell is still in Sweden, where he is producing a channel called The Great War, which follows WWI exactly 100 years later in real time, week by week, using original footage from the British Pathé film archives.

Jonathan Fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Class of 1990 Scholarship 

Dara Mysliwiec ’16, Biology, Earth and Environmental Science

Hi, all. I am writing these notes on Valentine’s Day, during what is being reported as record-breaking cold for many cities on the East Coast. Here in New York, it is freezing and windy and I can only hope that by the time you are reading this, an early spring has arrived. Here’s what we have.

It was great to hear from David Buchbinder with an update about what he has been up to since leaving Wes. David moved to New York after graduation and enrolled at Columbia for his MFA in creative writing. From there he went to Mozambique, covering the end of the war and the peace process as a cub reporter. “I gigged around as a journalist for about 10 years, mostly for the wires, with long-term assignments in Afghanistan and Venezuela—and a brief detour into social work at a transitional facility for the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. Since then it’s been about human rights in Africa, first as a researcher (Chad/Sudan conflict for Human Rights Watch; use and recruitment of child soldiers for Child Soldiers International), more recently as a teacher/trainer (fact-finding and advocacy at African Human Rights Consortium, a pan-African training institute based in Botswana; and LGBT rights in Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi for Benetech, a technology company based in the Silicon Valley).” Currently, David is working with a group of southern African LGBT rights organizations on a research project looking at barriers to HIV/AIDS care and treatment for lesbians and transgender individuals. David lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sally, and their two boys, Ziggy (8) and Hugo (3).

We have baby news from Alex Navarro-McKay, whose daughter, Eliora, was born last April and joins big brother Avi and mom Kate, and travel news from Jennifer Palmer, who went to London in August and “saw Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet, Chiwetel Ejiofor in Everyman and Mark Gatiss in Three Days in the Country.” Also checking in was Zak Penn, who is still living happily in Los Angeles with his wife, Michele Weiss, and their three children.

My former Foss 7 hallmate, Jessica Mann Gutteridge, writes with “lots of change over the last year-and-a-bit. After leaving my life as a lawyer and the New York area, my husband and our three sons and I moved to his hometown of Vancouver, B.C. I spent a wonderful year home with the kids getting us all resettled into our new surroundings, and then my dream job suddenly appeared before me. I’ve returned to my first love, the theatre, as the education manager of Carousel Theatre for Young People on Granville Island in Vancouver. So far, I’ve survived my first two productions of school matinees and the end of a drama school term and start of another!”

News of another relocation comes from Jennifer Heppel, who accepted the job as commissioner of the Patriot League, a Division I collegiate athletics conference, last summer and subsequently moved to Bethlehem, Pa. Jen is loving the job and slowly settling into her new home and city. “Great to be back on the East Coast.”

Edward Ungvarsky runs an office in Virginia that represents persons charged with capital murder who are facing the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He “credits a Wesleyan class on ethics of life taught by Rev. Arnold Thomas for inspiration.” Ed’s wife, Olivia Smith ’91, founded Bridges Public Charter School in DC for teaching together children with and without special needs. Olivia’s school opens a new building this fall. “Our girls, Nola and Lena, wear their Wes shirts with pride—because the auteur of Hamilton went to Wes.” (As an aside, I will add that my husband David and I saw Hamilton two weeks ago and thought it was absolutely fantastic.) Ed had pizza and beer in NYC in November with Yau-Mu Huang ’93, who works at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Phil Yanos, who teaches and practices psychology at John Jay.

More baby news comes from Victor Khodadad and his wife, Kristina Dunatov, who just welcomed their first child into the world. Roko Antonio Khodadad was born on Columbus Day, Oct. 12, 2015. “He was 5 lbs., 15 oz., and is doing great!” On the performing front, Victor maintains an active career as an actor and classical singer. Upcoming engagements include the comic role of Captain Dietrich in the opera Evangeline in Portland, Maine, in April 2016, and the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Music Festival, on June 10th–12th in Chestertown, Md., and Philadelphia, Pa. More info is available on his website: victorkhodadad.com.

Julia Moffett has been based with her family in Nairobi, Kenya, since 2013. Julia leads innovation for a large African bank’s foundation and is also launching a venture fund to back education entrepreneurs. It’s an “amazingly exciting place to be, as it is a place brimming with ideas, creativity, and energy around solutions to problems at the base of the pyramid. And it is one of the most beautiful countries for my 10-year-old twin daughters to grow up in!”

Finally, Alfredo Viegas writes with the exciting news that he is about to become a Wesleyan parent! Al’s oldest daughter, Alessandra ’20, just got accepted to Wesleyan ED2. “Not sure what she wants to study…maybe film, or creative writing. We are all totally pumped!! Apparently this was the most competitive class ever, with over 12,000 applications! Yikes!!”

That’s all for now. Please write with news, big or small. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Bayard and Betsy Klimasmith live in Belmont, Mass. Bayard is a middle-school assistant principal in Lexington, and Betsy is an English professor at UMass Boston. Their son, David, is in kindergarten, and daughter Sophie ’20 is a member of Wesleyan’s class of 2020.

Eric Glatt earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015 and serves as an attorney at the ACLU of Alaska. Eric continues work on the ongoing lawsuit he and Alexander Footman ’09 brought against Fox Searchlight Pictures over the issue of unpaid intern labor and minimum wage laws, and on the lack of federal non-discrimination protections for unpaid interns and volunteers.

Lauren Simon Irwin won a big employment trial representing a pharmacist against Wal-Mart in the US District Court in New Hampshire. She’s enjoying the victory while waiting for the inevitable appeal.

Michael Reinke is executive director with the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Julia Arlinghaus Charles writes, “I’m enjoying life in the SF Bay Area with my 15-year-old daughter. I work for Touro University California, writing grants and crunching data; in my spare time I paint and try to design a foolproof automatic chicken coop door.”

Maria Snyder received tenure at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and is now an associate professor of French and German. Stephanie Hirschman Wade, lives in Maine with her 13-year-old daughter and works at Unity College as director and associate professor of writing. Brian Howell, professor of anthropology at Wheaton College, is on sabbatical this semester, teaching in Tanzania, presenting a paper at the University of Edinburgh and a conference in Cambridge, and joining a “faculty development” trip along the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

The American Academy of Religion awarded Jerome Copulsky the AAR-Luce Fellowship in Religion and International Affairs. The award funds Jerome’s Franklin Fellowship at the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Jim Ghiloni serves as a fellow in the president’s inaugural White House Leadership Development Program, designed to foster the next generation of senior executives in the Federal government.

In January 2015, Deborah Mayer took over as chief counsel and staff director for the Senate Select Committee on Ethics and reconnected with Narda Jones, who works for Senator Maria Cantwell. She’s also celebrating 17 years with the Navy, serving as a military judge, trying court-martial cases throughout the Navy and Marine Corps.

Laurie Woods returned to her hometown of D.C. in June 2015, after more than two decades away. She’s happy to be closer to her parents and reconnect with Maud Casey.

Katherine Wingfield Barry writes that Will Barry now serves as chairman of the Olney Boys and Girls Club as well as part of the executive committee of the law firm, Richards Kibbe and Orbe. Will coaches one of their sons in football and lacrosse. Their 8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, is the only girl playing tackle football in the whole program.

Tasos Theodorou lives in Dallas and works in healthcare consulting. His son, Apostoli Stone Theodorou, was born Sept. 22, 2015. Eva Pendleton and her husband, Patrick Barnhart, are adopting a baby boy, who was placed with them at birth on Dec. 8, 2015. “His name is August James Barnhart and we are enjoying life in the new parent vortex!”

Ian and Zanne Gerrard ’94 visited Sarah Sutter, who is celebrating five years in Tokyo. They watched basketball, explored shrines in Kamakura, and ate lots of excellent Japanese food.

Phil Faroudja assisted with the passage of “Laura’s Law” in San Francisco County. Laura’s Law moves people with mental illness out of the court system and into healthcare facilities and provides funding for mental care professionals.

Tim McBride and his family live in Hingham Mass.,where he heads the New England region and Boston office for Bessemer Trust. Tim’s stayed connected to the Wes basketball program and took the players and coaches out to dinner after they played in a tournament in the Boston area.

Kevin Greiner marks 10 years as president and CEO of Atlanta-based Gas South and serves on the boards of the United Way of Greater Atlanta, YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, and the Atlanta Opera. Also in Atlanta is Pierrette Maillet, director of alumni relations at Kennesaw State University. She recently completed a master’s degree in higher education administration.

Josh Horwitz added Clear Mind Tutoring, which blends meditation with subject tutoring, as a second business alongside Craniosacral-East, which he’s run for 14 years. He’s also completing an MA in creative writing at Wilkes University. His 2-year-old daughter, Lucia, learned drumming from John Lee ’92, of the band The Laytcomers.

Sharon Panitch of Burlington, Vt., tallies her household as: one spouse, three kids, two cats, and five chickens. She’s producing for Theatre Kavanah, a company “dedicated to staging the Jewish experience.”

A February New York Times Well column featured comments from Brookline, Mass., psychologist Ann Goebel-Fabbri, who specializes in treating people with diabetes who have eating disorders.

Nikki Harmon announced she has written and self-published her first novel, When I Was Your Girlfriend. Dorian Hart published The Ventifact Colossus, the first in a planned series of five books. Dorian also serves as the stay-at-home dad for daughters Elanor (11) and Kira (8). Also in the author corner, Cameron Gearen presents Some Perfect Year, a book of poems published by Shearsman Press.

Alex Kudera reports that his second adjunct novel, Auggie’s Revenge, was launched at the AWP conference in Los Angeles, and that a classroom edition of Fight for Your Long Day, with additional interviews and articles on adjunct labor and student debt, is being prepared for publication by Hard Ball Press in Brooklyn.

Jeremy Arnold’s book, The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter, serves as a companion to Turner Classic Movies’ weekly Essentials program, highlighting the most significant and influential films ever made. Make a date to look for him on-air May 15, as he introduces the James Cagney double-header of White Heat and Footlight Parade.

Two nights later, on May 17, check your local PBS station for Genealogy Roadshow. This is the second season I’ve worked as a senior researcher for the show. It’s great fun, and I love researching the stories of everyday Americans. Looking forward to seeing everyone at Reunion!

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

Adam writes: Greeting to all. Hope that all is well with you and yours. Things are chugging along for me in Cambridge: still at MIT and still serving as a housemaster at a graduate dorm on campus. My call for notes generated a lot of news, so here goes…

Michelle Elisberg just celebrated her 10-year anniversary as a pediatrician at Family Health Centers, a federally qualified health center in Louisville. The bat mitzvah of her oldest daughter, Elena, occasioned a reunion of the Havurah, with Lara Small Laurence ’90, Jen Hammer ’91, Sarah Leavitt and Jenny Simon Tabak ’93 in attendance. Michelle returned the favor by attending Sarah’s son’s bar mitzvah in Maryland, where she caught up with Sue Beals-Simon and Jessica Feierman.

Recently (though I use the term loosely) on the move was Hal Skinner, who de-camped with his family to Chapel Hill, N.C. He is director of epidemiology for Truven Health Analytics, where he has been working primarily on developing measures of healthcare quality for a federal government client. Also in the health industry in North Carolina is Morgan Bain, who works as medical director for outpatient palliative care at Duke University Medical Center, where he has been since 2013. He enjoys caring for patients and teaching young medical students/doctors/nurses. Since Morgan hadn’t written in since the 1990s, he had a big update, including news about his marriage (since 2005) to his husband Jonathan Brady, a theater director who has started his own theater company, Bartlett Theater, in Durham, N.C., this past year. Recently Morgan bumped into Bill Kim at a Barnes and Noble store in Durham. Bill is an oncologist conducting research at UNC.

I had another update from a classmate who hadn’t written in for a while. Kevin Heckman left his last theater job in 2010 to get his MBA at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. After graduating in 2014 he joined Bain & Company as a management consultant, where he has been working since. He recently moved to Geneva, Ill., with his wife, Christine, and their 6-year-old twin daughters, Arianna and Noelle .

Lots of news this month from the world of academia. Bradley Herling became chair of the division of humanities and social sciences last year, and just published the second edition of his textbook, A Beginner’s Guide to the Study of Religion (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd published two books in 2015: Beyond Religious Freedom: The New Global Politics of Religion (Princeton University Press) and Politics of Religious Freedom, co-edited with Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Saba Mahmood, and Peter G. Danchin (University of Chicago Press). wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/s/1318/L3parent_social.aspx?sid=1318&gid=1&pgid=3211

Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley is an associate professor of history at San Diego State University. Her research area is modern Chinese history, and she travels to China or Taiwan most summers to hit the archives there. She is married to Van Tarpley, who pastors an American Baptist church in the San Diego area. They have two little boys, Peter (9) and Isaac (6). Kate got to return to Wesleyan last spring to take part in an event marking the retirement of Professor Vera Schwarcz, who sparked Kate’s passion for Chinese history.

Sidra Smith moved to suburban San Diego last summer to become the assistant head of school for Pacific Ridge School, a 7–12 independent school founded in 2007. While most of her work is with adults, she also teaches 7th grade English and participates in a service learning program.

Josh Sitzer accepted a position as chief marketing officer of Unanimous A.I., a Silicon Valley-based startup that uses artificial swarm intelligence to pool the intelligence of individuals to make better decisions and predictions. He works remotely from Kansas City, where he lives with wife Amy and kids Eli (9) and Zoe (5).

Mark Hunter just moved to Vermont and bought a home near Lake Champlain. He just published his first book and is expanding his company, Pinnacle Coaching (Pinnacle-Coaching.net) to include more keynote speaking in addition to corporate leadership coaching.

Dina Amsterdam is spending the year in Cambridge as a visiting scholar in the Social Computing group at the MIT Media Lab. Her company, Leadership Within, is the business end of this project. She’s also part of an innovative network of K–3 schools, Wildflower, which is growing globally.

Grant Brenner published a book, Irrelationship: How We Use Dysfunctional Relationships to Hide from Intimacy, and, with partners, started a business, Neighborhood Psychiatry.

Also with a new book is Shura Pollatsek. Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design will be available summer of 2016. It explores creative collaboration during the costume design process, between the designer’s sketch and the final costume on stage, and features the photography of her husband, Mitchell D. Wilson.

Chris Chesak is the executive director of the Family Travel Association. Linda Perlstein remains in Seattle and works on the team developing Amazon’s bricks-and-mortar bookstore. She oversees the nonfiction buying and is involved in strategic planning, too. Ken Lefkowitz just started as the CEO of NetIX, a telecommunication start-up

My frosh hallmate Anne Jennings Paris reports that, along with husband Marc and son Duncan, she moved to London in May of 2014. This past fall, she completed a book of paintings and descriptions of the places they’ve encountered (A Long Walk to a Good Pub: Post Cards from an Expat Year). Duncan, 11, attends the local state school and Marc works in software consulting. They plan to return to the Portland, Ore., area later this year.

And speaking of Clark 3, I close with very sad news: Lori Robbins passed away in January. I will never forget her warmth and infectious good humor. She will be missed. On behalf of her friends, I’ve been working with University Relations to erect a memorial in her honor for our 25th Reunion next year. If you would like to contribute, please let me know and I can pass along the details.

ADAM BERINSKY | berinsky@mit.edu

PAUL COVIELLO | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

Dara writes: Lots of news this time, so let’s get right to it: Ben Meyer recently traveled to Santa Cruz for Stuart Norton ’97 and Jeanne Hardebeck’s wedding. Also in attendance were Lauren Olsho and John Blake. Ben tells us that the feature film he wrote and directed, Fools, has been doing the festival circuit. It won the Audience Award for Best Competition Feature at Dances With Films, in Los Angeles. The film was also screened at the Petaluma International Film Festival, the Southampton International Film Festival, the Tulsa American Film Festival, the ReadingFilmFEST, and the Big Apple Film Festival in NYC.

Mike Stabile’s film is also in festival release right now. It’s a documentary, Seed Money, about ’70s pornographer (and gay rights activist) Chuck Holmes. It will be in distribution later this year: out.com/popnography/2015/12/24/watch-10-best-lgbt-documentaries-2015

From the theater world, playwright Ginger Lazarus writes in about two of her productions. The Housekeeper was at the Boston Playwrights’ Theater in January, and Burning was at the Theater at St. Clement’s in NYC in February. The production of Burning featured Catherine Curtin, also known as Officer Wanda Bell on Orange Is the New Black.

Lauren Elmore tells us that Kirsten Greenidge had a busy February, with two of her plays produced at the same time. Milk Like Sugar was at the Huntington Theatre Company, and Baltimore was at New Rep Theatre, both in Boston. She also wrote that Angela Tucker is living in New Orleans, currently in pre-production for her Kickstarter-funded feature, Paper Chase. And lastly, Lauren is sorry to miss Reunion this year, but she has a good excuse: “I’ll be attending the Harvard Graduate School of Education ceremonies to celebrate earning my doctorate of education, with a focus on technology, arts, and higher education.”

From San Francisco, Sarah Huard writes: “I’m leading advancement efforts for Convent & Stuart Hall, the school where my daughters, Piper and Arden, are in second grade and kindergarten. Piper’s teacher is the proud parent of Wes sophomore Tess Holland ’18. I was in an extremely short-lived running club with Sophie Middlebrook Hayward ’98 last spring—I dropped out so now she’s the only member.”

Michael Roberts and his wife, Leslie Roberts ’97, welcomed their third son, Adrien Justis Roberts, into the world last April. Their older sons regularly play mischievous games with the daughter of fellow Marin County resident and shoulda-been-a-’96er, Andrew Levine ’97.

Also on the West Coast is Nina Erlich-Williams: “I have been living in Corvallis, Ore., for about six years now with my husband and two sons, Jude (7) and Ezra (10). For my day job, I continue to run a public relations firm that specializes in environmental policy (publicgoodpr.com) with my husband. When the garden is in season I do a lot of cooking and canning and have somehow turned into a PTA mom who does things like bake gluten-free cupcakes from scratch. We had some wonderful visitors this past year: Dara Federman came all the way out from Brooklyn to check out our little town on Memorial Day, and Hilary Hoeber and her hubby paid us a visit in the fall. I also got to see Cora Stubbs-Dame Jeyadame as part of a trip to New England last summer. It was wonderful to see so many of my closest Wes buddies in one year. Looking forward to catching up with even more people at Reunion!”

Alissa Pines lives in Austin. She and her husband bought a house and both of their children, Owen (6) and Miles (4), are in public schools. She teaches Spanish at the local public school.

Colby Evans and Sara Kirchhoff Evans have expanded their dermatology practice (evans-dermatology.com) in Austin to three locations and eight medical providers. Their children are well and happy and keep them busy. Quinn is 7, Malcolm is 6, and Ruby is 4.

Dacque Tirado writes from Maryland, where he was digging out from 30 plus inches of snow. He is traveling to Argentina for two weeks in June and is looking to link up with any Wes folks down there or traveling through Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile, Kristin Mercer was in Mexico “on a research trip where I work with traditional varieties of maize and chile pepper. My family and I are in Vancouver, B.C., on sabbatical this year and loving the ocean and forests.”

And on the East Coast, Elura Nanos Kish continues to work as a TV lawyer, appearing often on news and talk shows. She has also launched Man Class—a speaking tour that brings Elura to fraternity houses and locker rooms to talk with young men about how they can avoid becoming part of the next campus scandal, while actively influencing peers to create safe environments for young adults.

Jesse Wegman lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, with his wife, Kyra Himmelbaum, and their 2-year-old daughter, Samara. Since 2013 he’s been a member of the editorial board of the New York Times, where he writes the Supreme Court editorials, as well as those on national legal issues.

After 19 years of hipster living, Koyalee Chanda and Neal Brandenburg packed up the family (two girls, ages 7 and 2) and left Brooklyn for Wesleyan, N.J.—otherwise known as Montclair. They get to see a lot of Sarah Chamberlin and Kate Washburn. Neal works as a supervising attorney at the Department of Education for the City of New York, while Koyalee is at Nickelodeon, producing the preschool series Wallykazam!, created by Adam Peltzman. During the production, Adam and Koyalee were able to keep it in the family, with Adrian Rothschild ’12 as their executive assistant for the second season.

Sam Effron also reports a move: “The transition to life in the ’burbs (Hastings-on-Hudson, aka Montclair North) has been great, and we’ve reunited with fellow locals Yaron Ben-Zvi ’97 and Emma Ditrinco Sollars ’97 and their families. Looking forward to Reunion!”

Great to hear from so many of you! Hope to catch up even more at reunion!

DARA FEDERMAN | darasf@yahoo.com

DACQUE TIRADO | dacquetirado@yahoo.com