Class Notes

Hi, ’04! Thanks for the notes! Some good updates from around the class.

Nick Blondin reports some great news: “I recently was promoted to associate professor of neurology at Yale, and I am the leader of the Neuro-Oncology Clinical Research Team. We are working hard to improve treatment options and outcomes for brain cancer patients. I also enjoyed returning to Wes for the annual water polo alumni reunion game, which was successfully held on April 27.”

Aja Gabel had her second son, Kenzo, in April, and a TV show she wrote on, called Sunny, premieres on Apple TV+ in July. 

Greg Heller can’t believe it has been 20 years! He’s still living in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philly with his wife and two sons (eight and five) and working as an affordable housing consultant at Guidehouse.

Meanwhile, Jhanelle C. Allen-Morris tells us she now lives in Parkland, Florida, with her husband and three kids, practicing emergency medicine and “traveling as often as I can.”

Nora Hanagan is currently a teaching assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also coordinates events for UNC’s Program for Public Discourse; in this role, she brought Michael Roth to campus, and held an event with Ted Shaw ’76. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her wife and two daughters.  

Some additional fun news as Kimberley (Thompson) Nixon makes Business Insider’s list of Black investors changing the face venture capital!

Congrats to all the exciting updates!

As always, if you’ve got class notes, please share them with me, Jenina Nuñez, at wes04classnotes@gmail.com.

Becca (Joffe) Filson, NP ’03, found herself working as a hospitalist with Jim Most ’89 MD at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vermont, where they enjoy talking about Neon Deli orders and giving their Williams College colleagues a hard time. 

Happy summer 2024 everyone! Onto the notes!

Congratulations to Sarabeth Broder-Fingert for her recent marriage to Melissa Courtemanche ’03. Sarabeth is the vice chair for clinical research in pediatrics and the associate director for research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at the UMass Chan Medical School.

Ben Goldstein was promoted to professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Duke University. He also serves as the director of data science for Duke AI Health and the associate chief data scientist for the Duke University Health System. He’s enjoying his 10th year in Durham with his wife, Cheng, and sons, Malcolm (10) and Noah (6). He gets excited when he sees the stray Wesleyan bumper sticker or baseball hat!

Miles Gerson relocated to Boston with his wife, Claire, at the height of COVID in August 2020 for his new role with Takeda Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Takeda Pharmaceuticals. This March he was promoted to global head and president of Takeda Ventures, managing the investment team and advising on strategic transactions.

Miles and Claire are loving Boston life, particularly because they get to spend more time with their many East Coast friends, including Wes alums Camden Fisher ’01, Jon Gates, and Kelly Knee PhD ’07, who all attended their COVID-delayed wedding celebrations in Colorado in 2022—both Camden and Jon graciously stood as groomsmen in the wedding party.

After graduating in 2002, Sallome Hralima moved to NYC for grad school and never left. She writes, “Miraculously (no really it was a lot of hard work, inheritance, and prayer), after 21 years in New York, my husband and I were able to purchase a home in Brooklyn. I had 15-plus years in youth development and social entrepreneurship before taking the leap into filmmaking. Since 2018 I have been producing events and short films with my freshman X-House roommate, Krysten Hayes. I have been working on a number of film/television projects with Umi NiiLampti ’99 and Markell Parker ’98. A documentary I co-produced, It Was All a Dream, premiered in the Tribeca Film Festival June 2024 in New York City. Here’s to career changes in your 40s!”

And Paul Smaldino wrote a book—Modeling Social Behavior: Mathematical and Agent-Based Models of Social Dynamics and Cultural Evolution—which is a comprehensive introduction to mathematical and agent-based modeling of social behavior. You can order a copy from Princeton University Press.

As for myself, I was recently an executive producer of Ninety-Five Senses, an animated short film directed by the Napoleon Dynamite duo Jared and Jerusha Hess, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. I also produced a series with the Olympics—Playing Fields—which not only won a Webby Award but also has been nominated for a Sports Emmy. Additionally, another film I produced about the tragic death of Indy car driver Dan Wheldon and the legacy he left for his sons—The Lionheart—recently premiered on HBO. I also have two films at festivals currently: Diane Warren: Relentless,about the Oscar-nominated songwriter that premiered at SXSW, and Bad Actor, a true-con doc about a $650 million Hollywood Ponzi scheme that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Lastly, I executive produced a true- crime series—Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order—coming to Hulu this summer, about a group of extraordinary women who use data to solve serial predation patterns amongst missing and murdered women.

We were light on notes, so please keep the updates coming!

Happy summer Class of 2001! Our classmates are keeping busy as ever.

Chris Saenger writes in to share that he is back in Washington, D.C., after spending four years in Bogota, Colombia. He will now be leading USAID’s Ukraine desk for the next couple of years. Chris’s wife, Caroline Adams Saenger, still paints beautiful, abstracted landscapes, and he adds that he smiles wistfully when he passes the exit for Middletown on his way up to visit his daughter at the University of Vermont.

Elizabeth Savage has started her own practice, Elizabeth Savage Law, located in Portland, Oregon. She focuses on appeals, civil litigation, and family law. Visit Elizabeth’s website (savage-attorney.com) to check out more about her new private practice.

We have another law career update from Wei Hu. Wei was recognized by City and State New York’s 2024 Trailblazers in Law publication! Wei’s practice, MRTA Law PC, was highlighted for helping to advance social justice and economic equity in New York’s adult-use industry and cannabis law. Wei is considered a leader in this category in part for prevailing in a pro bono appellate matter that changed New York State’s marijuana conviction expungement laws in 2023, as well as for having worked with Governor Hochul’s office on regulatory and enforcement matters to stem unlicensed dispensary operations throughout New York in 2024. As if Wei has not been busy enough, he, along with two co-owners, also recently opened Lenox Hill Cannabis Co., a dispensary located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Correction from last issue: Mattitiyahu Zimbler’s name was misspelled. We apologize for the error.

Whew! Thanks so much to everyone who shared their news. We love hearing from you.

Best,

Aryn and Mara

Mandy Snyder wrote: “I moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts, last year to enjoy the amazing improvisational dance community here, and it has been wonderful. I am offering groups in somatic and parts work around western Massachusetts.

“I recently visited the campus after many years. My brother, Jeffrey Snyder, a professor at Carleton College, gave a talk on free speech for the annual Hugo L. Black Lecture. That was a special moment for me, and it was so great to be back. So many great memories, especially from living at Art House and all of the dance opportunities there. 

“Reach out if you live nearby and enjoy walking or hiking. I would love to connect with other alums.” 

From Peter Wiley: “I’m so sad to report that my wife, Hilda Ives Wiley, died on March 28, 2024, from a six-month battle with colon cancer. Hilda and I met in the first few days of our freshman year and by the end of our first semester, we were in a ‘Wes marriage’ for the rest of our four years. I am so grateful for the 27 years we shared together and for Wesleyan being the place that brought us together. Hilda’s freshman roommate, Marisa Suescun, and floor mate, Jill Berlinski,were able to visit with Hilda just a few days before she died and we did a lot of reminiscing. Like the time Jill and Marisa created a dinner party for Hilda’s 20th birthday in a Nicholson dorm room, putting a wooden board atop a bed, creating a makeshift dining room table. More information about Hilda’s journey with cancer is available on the CaringBridge website and an obituary was published in the Portland Press Herald.”

Greg Amis shared two updates: “In November of 2021, my wife, Karen Ferreira Amis, died of sarcoma. Her good friend, M. J. Lanum, and her sister, Kristen Ferreira, wrote a wonderful obituary, available at http://karenferreiraamis.name. The kids and I have grown and healed a lot in the last three years. She would be proud of us.”

And “last October I was laid off after five years at Abbott Vascular. It was a blessing in disguise as I joined Insitro, an amazing tech-bio start-up focused on AI-accelerated drug discovery.”

Greg and Peter, we are sorry for your losses and offer our heartfelt condolences to you and your loved ones.

Matthew Lenard said he “earned his PhD in education from Harvard University this spring and will join the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University this fall.”

Trace Peterson has moved back to Connecticut, where she continues to teach as a visiting assistant professor of English at UConn, Storrs. This year, so far, her article “A Pre Narrative Manifesto: kari edwards’ Trans Poetics” was published in The Weird Sister Collection, edited by Marisa Crawford (The Feminist Press), and her nonfiction essay “Between Muses” was published in Gina Barreca’s new edited collection Fast Famous Women (Woodhall Press). She also had new poems published in Interim: Poetry and Poetics and The Arts Fuse and was invited to give a talk on trans poetry at The Poetry Foundation in Chicago. Currently a member of the Wallace Stevens Poetry Committee at UConn, she was a judge for this year’s Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize.

As a spring chicken of 45, Tamar Wilner is setting out on a new career. Having wrapped up her PhD at the University of Texas, she’ll be starting this fall as an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Kansas. Tamar will be relocating to the charming and surprisingly hilly college town of Lawrence, where she looks forward to patronizing a vibrant local music scene, and possibly investing in her first e-bike.

Alua Arthur’s book, Briefly Perfectly Human, was recommended by Gayle King for Oprah’s Book Club and has been a New York Times bestseller. The book description says it is “a deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives.” Alua has also been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in health in 2024. @alualoveslife

There’s a chance you read about our classmate Eli Newell in The New York Times—in March, they covered his story of two weddings and avoiding a funeral in the same year. An incredible story. We’re thrilled that Eli has recovered from his heart surgery and is happily married to the fast-thinking Dr. Erika Amundson!

Hannah Sharpless Graff shared that she is “in one of those life shifts right now. I feel old saying my husband, John (an engineer at Metalenz, based in Boston), and I have lived in Swampscott for almost 20 years. My 16-year-old, Theo, attends a very small boarding school in Connecticut that has absolutely changed our family dynamic, as he is finally content and getting the support and structure he needs to thrive. He is showing an extraordinary aptitude, and, more importantly, enthusiasm for chemistry. My eldest, Tex, is off to college next year and has some exciting choices to make—wherever he goes, he wants to be close to mountains. I am preparing, with a tiny knot in my stomach that is surrounded by excited butterflies, to wonder why the house is so quiet. In addition to ‘momming’ and community work, I have an art practice that is based in natural colors and nature-based exploration. I collaborate with local artists, teach occasional workshops, organize a local artisan festival, and design logos, tees, and more for my local town conservancy and other nonprofits. I am definitely most interested in the process, and my ADHD is sated by the infinite paths of learning that occur when working with and within nature. All in all, I’m a lucky human existing in a hard world and I find my peace walking my dogs in the woods and along the beaches of Swampscott. In a time where everything seems to devolve into the binary, I love that I can have rich, meaningful, and silly conversations with my Wes people online or, more rarely, in person.” 

Liz Garcia shared that our 25th was her first reunion EVER. “I’ve been back for film department occasions over the years, (such as teaching a writing workshop to the razor-sharp students this past fall) but the time has come to see as many folks as possible! Life in Brooklyn is much better now that the sun has come out and the flowers are blooming. My son and I have been loving every minute of Dan Shotz‘s Disney+ show, Percy Jackson (I highly recommend it to parents like me who have a hard time tearing their kids away from YouTube). My feature comedy, Space Cadet (which I wrote and directed), starring Emma Roberts and Gabrielle Union, comes out on Amazon Prime video this July (also family viewing material). My life is richer because I get to see Elizabeth LeSure Epstein and Jim Epstein, Carly Detterman, and Sarah Schorr on the regular. My kids and Joann Kamuf’s ’00 kids are school pals.

Hello classmates,

There is still snow on the ground as I write this (with a bit more falling), though I know we’re well into spring for most of you and it will be summer by the time you read this. Time certainly goes by differently these days, and I don’t know about you all, but for me, my time at Wesleyan feels like both yesterday and a million years ago. Though I finally just watched the first episode of How I Met Your Father last night and sure enjoyed hearing the Wes reference! A(n extremely) belated congrats to Carter Bays ’97 and Craig Thomas ’97 for the empire you have built. I still remember you from our earliest freshman year and it makes me smile.

Devin Robel wrote in to say that she is living her best bicoastal life, traveling from her home in Oregon to spend winters in Florida. She and her little horse, Gillou, are competing at the intermediate and international three-star level in three-day eventing, a triathlon combining dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. With a successful start to the season, Gillou is currently ranked first in the nation at the intermediate level.

Adam Borden (an art history major himself—thanks yearbook!) says that although he and his wife never expected his children to follow in their footsteps, he is pleasantly surprised their daughter has fallen in love with Williams. She and his wife visited a few weeks, and the aspiring art history major loved the offerings. Yay for more chances to visit beautiful New England!

Finally, I am very sorry to say that we lost Shani Tahir Mott this year, far too soon, on March 12, 2024. She was a Black studies scholar and lecturer in the Center for Africana Studies and Department of History at Johns Hopkins University. Her work on race and power focused not only on the academic—how institutions such as universities and publishing houses shape (and limit) our conversations and understanding of race and racial experiences through their choices around publication, funding, etc.—but also daily reality and lived experience. She sued the mortgage and appraisal companies that allegedly used racial bias in their appraisal and loan offering for Mott’s own house, and she received a settlement that included policy changes to hopefully improve the process for others. At Johns Hopkins she was the co-principal investigator of the Housing Our Story Project that worked to include Black voices from Hopkins workers who had been left out of previous archiving projects at the university, and she helped launch the university’s first social justice and equity collective. I can’t think of better ways to exemplify the Wesleyan spirit I remember than Dr. Mott’s career bringing awareness to the race and power injustices all around us and putting that work into meaningful action. You can read more about her and her work here and here.

I do love hearing from all of you, so please send in any sightings, thoughts, experiences, or anything else you want to share.

Happy summer, classmates! Here are the latest updates. . . .

First, Andrew Frishman shared some of his latest Wesconnections! “Leigh Needleman ’96, (who is the executive director of the Rowland Institute at Harvard University) and I continue to live in the Central Square/Cambridgeport area in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our younger child will be in sixth grade, and our elder child is about to head to Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in the fall, where she will join a child of Christian Housh. We enjoy getting together regularly with Laura Warren ’98 and her family, who live just down the street from us. A virtual [re]connection—I had an invigorating Zoom call with Ari Gerzon-Kessler ’99 who lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is engaged in some very cool parent/family engagement work with schools—check out his new book, On the Same Team  (https://www.solutiontree.com/on-the-same-team.html)! In early March, Arthur Baraf ’99, who is a principal at the Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island, brought up a few of his outstanding/inspiring students and we co-presented in an MIT class focused on educational innovation about the Big Picture Learning approach. Speaking of the power of the Wesleyan ’98 class, Jamie Pagliaro ’98 continues to do powerful work in the field of special education and I’ve been grateful for his support as an advisor to our ImBlaze initiative at Big Picture Learning focused on spreading/scaling high school career exploration and work-based learning including internships.”

Thank you for these wonderful updates, Andrew! We love that you are in touch with so many Wes alums! Thanks for reaching out to let us know how everyone is doing and their impact in education.

From Nashville, Michelle Conceison wrote: “In January I became chair of the Department of Recording Industry in the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University. Any alums in music who find themselves in Nashville on business should come meet our students! I am continuing my work in artist management. My company Mmgt will be 20 years old in June. We represent Kyshona, Della Mae, Margo Cilker, Jeffrey Foucault, Laurel Lewis, Laura Cortese, Phoebe Hunt, RC1, the estate of Guy Clark, the estate of Scott Alarik, and many other artists and creators. Recently I presented research about fair pay for musicians that I worked on with Whippoorwill Arts at a Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association conference in Atlanta (mmgt.co/research).” We appreciate your work to improve working conditions in the music industry and providing mentorship and leadership for students, Michelle!

Alek Lev is producing a new podcast called Arts Educators Save the World. The show brings together successful artists in conversation with their mentors, and it has Wesleyan alum all over the place. For the premiere episode back in season one, they spoke with Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, along with his (and Alek’s) elementary school music teacher. Season two includes a talk with Craig Thomas the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother and a sit-down with Emmy-winner Bradley Whitford ’81. Check out all episodes at www.ArtsEducatorsPodcast.com. Alek was also invited by the film department, along with our new ASL teacher, to screen his film, WHAT? at Wes on April 4. He can report back to his Class of ’97 that Foss Hill and Low Rise are still there, though In-Town is either gone or he just couldn’t find it.

Matthew Way wrote from Germany: “In November I released my second music video, again under the name Yóbaby. This time, I didn’t shoot in Berlin, Germany, rather returned to my roots in Philly. The video has garnered over one million views and 10,000 likes. It’s all been in preparation for my next feature, The Pillow Snake, which can be read about at pillowsnake.com. We’re cooperating with the Greater Philadelphia Film Office and hope to shoot this feature in one year’s time.”

We are heartbroken to report the December 2023 passing of Juliet Port, E&ES major, member of the swim team, and a beloved ’97 class alumna. After graduation, Juliet joined the Peace Corps in Mongolia. She was a geologist and also a volunteer with school groups. She is survived by her husband, Christopher Reading, her parents, Diane and Bob Port, her brother Nicholas, her twin sister, Cynthia Florence Port, their family, and friends. To read memorial posts about Juliet, or to leave your own, please use this link. We all share our deepest condolences with Juliet’s family and friends. 

Thanks for your updates, everyone.

Sasha and Jess

1996er fam—hope all is well this spring! Weather starting to get nice down here in the DMV—wishing you all happiness, health, and gratitude this season. Now on to some great updates from folks!

Jake Ward just finished five years as NBC’s technology correspondent and is now at work on a follow-up to his 2022 book, The Loop: How AI is Creating a World without Choices and How to Fight Back. He got to join Amber Frid-Jimenez ’97 on a panel at Wes about AI, and still regularly sees Zach Lyman ’97, Koyalee Chanda and Neal Brandenburg,and Dominique Andrews on his trips to D.C., Los Angeles, and New York.

Leigh Needleman, Laura Warren ’98, and Fawn Phelps ’97 send in news of a wonderful Wesleyan meeting in Cambridge: “We caught up on all things Wesleyan, women in our respective fields, raising headstrong kids, and all other things we folks all experience together. With our classmates turning 50 this year, it has been amazing reuniting and celebrating together.” Leigh continues, “Myself, Rob Mathews, Christian Housh ’97, Tassia Thomas, and Andrew Frishman ’97 enjoyed a sushi dinner and a ridiculous night of exploration at the Rowland Institute at Harvard on the banks of the Charles. A birthday dinner with Jeremy Abramson and our respective families was a blast last month. And, in one week, my family (Andrew Frishman and kids) is traveling to St. Paul to celebrate Daniela Bell’s daughter’s quinceanera.” She sends cheers to reuniting with old friends and looking forward to great future adventures together!

With more than two decades of experience working in network newsrooms, Stacey Samuel now has a boutique production company producing conferences and summits featuring newsmakers and influencers. And still, consults and produces narrative podcasts for former news colleagues and some corporate consulting firms. Stacey also writesin that she made a lovely trip out to Los Angeles to hang with Soraya Burtnett ’95 and her kids.

Revere Greist sends us news he, along with Dan Cohen and Henry Schneider, competed in the New York City Triathlon last October. “Water quality issues” after the heavy rains and flooding resulted in a canceled swim, but they had a great time riding and running and mainly being together again. “Lazar Treschan also raced but we didn’t realize that until afterward and could only share war stories electronically.”

Tom Constabile writes that he moved up to New Rochelle in Westchester County a few years back. After running business development and distribution for the streaming sports service zone in the U.S. and Canada, he’s recently launched a consulting business focused on digital media streaming entertainment, sports, telecom, and consumer technology called UP Media, now open for business and collaborations. His wife, Elena, works in nonprofit event planning for the America India Foundation, and his son attends Webster Elementary School and plays a lot of soccer.

Tracie Broom sends news that “in February 2024, I was voted board president of a small, national association of PR agency owners, PRConsultants Group, at our annual conference in Sacramento. It seemed like a good excuse to round up some old friends to toast turning 50 out West! I traveled from Columbia, South Carolina, joined by old friends Mariah Maclachlan and Peldi Guilizzoni from Bologna, Italy, with their son; I got to catch up with Samantha Kurtzman-Counter ’95 in Healdsburg, where she’s launching an amazing artist- and farmer-in-residence program, and I got to hug Nate Prouty ’01 and Abby Hippsup in Nevada City. Meanwhile, an assortment of ’96ers got together for various 50th birthday shenanigans in Central California. Kate Baker came up from Punta de Mita, Mexico, with her daughter; Bill Macomber, his wife, Annie Weisman, and their kids came from LA; and Jason Walchli, his wife, Pamela Bock, and their kids came down from Portland, Oregon. The Wes-heavy celebrations weren’t limited to the class of 1996. Tony Schloss ’97 left the kids in Brooklyn with Juno Shaye ’98 (who was missed!); Diego Gutierrez ’97 and Kim Diaz Gutierrez ’97 came up with their kids from LA, Katie Wright ’95 and Jason Agard ’94, still wearing their newlywed glow, came up from LA, and Jason Blalock ’94 rolled down from Oakland. In general, while there are still a few elementary and middle school-aged children in the mix, many of my old friends’ kids are teenagers, some in high school and some in college, like my partner Scott’s 17-year-old kiddo (who I joyfully claim as mine too), here in South Carolina. It’s wonderful to see how my friends are navigating changes in their careers, parenthood, and leisure time as their kids are becoming young adults.” 

As for me (Dacque), I am happy to report that I spent spring break in France (Paris, Caen, and Bordeaux) for my 50th birthday. Also, I ran into Shereem Herndon-Brown in Potomac, Maryland, as we both were watching  our children play in sporting events. We caught up on all the happenings in our lives and talked about getting lots of folks back for Reunion weekend. Shereem is founder and president of Strategic Admissions Advice, LLC and speaks nationally on the college admission process. He is the co-author The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions. I will catch his next speech when he gives a talk at my son’s school.

Please write to your class secretaries.