Class Notes

Hello, all! I hope that this message finds you well. I pray that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the New Year.

Sasha Chanoff writes, “RefugePoint is a dream come true—it’s the organization I founded 20 years ago to find life-changing solutions for refugees around the world. I loved seeing many of you at our 30th Reunion. Dan Lennon and I drove there together and sang Spirits songs on the car ride. My wife, Marni Chanoff—a psychiatrist providing ketamine-assisted therapy—and I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, where our two kids are in high school.”

Matthew Fraser shared, “I continue to write with the Salem House Press and have two books with social security themes. The first, Ideas for America: Let the Sun In,has a chapter about securing and maximizing social security; and the second, Critical Infrastructure for Children: The Astonishing Potential of New England Schools, has a few points on the education side of maximizing the program.” Matthew is diligently working to get this information out and hopes to have his books available in public libraries to allow greater access. He writes, “This is the best way I could think of to contribute and honor our class. I hope to hear from classmates soon.”

A member of Wesleyan Athletics shared, “During Homecoming last November, more than three dozen of John Griffin’s family, friends, and former teammates gathered to dedicate a tree in his name by Jackson Field. John was a member of the men’s lacrosse and football teams, as well as a DKE brother. He passed away in March 2020 and is remembered as being very kind and gentle despite his large size and physical way of competing. John would always say, ‘It’s a great day to be a Cardinal.’”

Jonathan Kirsch writes that he “directs the University of Minnesota’s Mobile Health program, bringing care to underserved communities. You can watch the recently made documentary, We Are Here: Lowering Barriers with Mobile Health, on the school’s website https://z.umn.edu/weareheredoc.”

James Longley shared, “In 2024 I finished filming a documentary feature in Afghanistan, working with Academy Award–winner Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. I lived and worked in Afghanistan under Taliban rule for two years to complete production, giving me a deep view into the social and political dynamics at play in Afghanistan following the departure of NATO forces.” 

David Niles writes, “After a great 30th Reunion, a few ’94ers carried the momentum to Homecoming where Steve Frail reprised his role as ‘Class Dad,’ providing sweet and savory pastries.” Well, that is all for now.  Keep sharing your news and memories!!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in this time around. It was great to hear some new voices, so I’d encourage anyone who has even a shred of news to share to send it in the future!

Abigail Lorber writes, “I am the grants manager with Dogwood Health Trust, a major funder for western North Carolina. I am grateful that my work has allowed me to help with the response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a bit surreal to take a trip to Europe five days after the storm, but I especially enjoyed having a mini-Wes reunion with Andrea Spertus Lemon in Utrecht, in the Netherlands.”

Diego von Vacano is in Washington, D.C., this year, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, finishing a book on lithium and critical minerals in Latin America for Oxford University Press.

Sylvia Rowe writes, “After 17 years of working in global health for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, I left the nonprofit world. I have returned to my roots in corporate law and taken on a role as a mentor to young lawyers at Davis Polk. I’m happy to no longer be traveling on long international trips and to being more present, for the last two years, with our daughter before she goes to college. If you work near Grand Central in NYC give me a shout!”

Lisa Rothman has turned her passion project into her full-time focus. She founded StopFamilyConflict.com where she helps parents who’ve tried a million things but can’t stop the same fights from happening. They’re sick of being pushovers or police officers (sometimes both on the same day). Her approach turns each fight into a chance for deeper connection and a more trusting relationship, without compromising on anything that’s important to them or their kids.

Hadley Gustafson writes, “I earned a scholarship to study in-person in January with luminary Sam Abell through the Los Angeles Center for Photography (LACP.) The three-day workshop [was] called Sharpening Your Photographic Vision. You can read more about it here. 

I am also continuing to work as a photographer documenting LA cinema events.”

Darcie Luce wrote in with news that Jessica Kirshner was recently promoted to vice president of oncology research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, New York, where she has worked for over 16 years. She recently represented Regeneron at the Global Alliance for Women’s Health workshop, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Elisa Freeling lives in London, where she earned a postgraduate certificate in education at St. Mary’s University and trained as a religious studies teacher several years ago. She is now head of divinity at the West London Free School, in Hammersmith, and teaches religion, philosophy, and ethics.

Tuula Fai writes, “I can share that I’ve moved to Sedona, Arizona, and am loving it! I left high-tech after 30 years and founded my own real estate investment firm and am loving that too! I’m still distance swimming (laps), which I’ve been doing since they opened the Freeman Athletic Center in ’91.”

Greg Pasternack is leading a team of 30 folks from universities, local governments, and nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area on a project to help unsheltered people living along streams cope with climate vulnerability [due] to extreme wind-rain events and flash floods, while also seeking to restore ecological functionality to encampment sites. If any Wes folks in the area work on these issues, he’d love to hear from you. He met Wes alum Minona Heaviland ’99 and toured one of the Sonoma County regional parks she helps manage, so now they are developing proposals to solve problems with gullies. Greg reports, “She’s fantastic at her job, so it’s great to learn about other Wes alum in the Bay Area working on environmental solutions.”

Mike Kammen writes, “My life is very good. I went into my family business back in 1993 and pretty much have not looked back. The one constant is change—that is for sure! I’m still married to my awesome wife, Amy (23 years married). My son, Jackson, is a sophomore at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, [and] he is a catcher on the baseball team. My daughter, Dylann, is a senior at Immaculate Heart Academy and waiting to hear back from colleges for next year.”

Karina Eileraas Karakus recently published a book with her daughter, Annelise, called Chasing Spirits. The book explores issues of suicide, teen mental health and social media use after the tragic loss of her teenager during the pandemic. 

Thanks, everyone, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!

Greetings all. Hope that 2025 has gotten off to a good start for you all. Lots of news to report, so here I go . . .

First up is my frosh year roommate, James Wilton, who is still living in North Carolina and continues to manage operations in the Southeast for Genesis10. His son, Jack, is now in Fort Myers, Florida, working for Colony Hardware as an operations supervisor (graduated from NC State in 2023). Both of his daughters, Carley and Lola, are enjoying their college years at NC State University (one a senior, elementary education; the other a sophomore, sports marketing), and James and his wife were able to attend a bunch of NC State games this year.

Speaking of undergraduate days, in November I went down to Wes with my daughter, Lila, to attend the Admission 101 program. While there, I caught up with Linda Perlstein, who came from Seattle with her son, Milo. Linda recently left the Gates Foundation and is now supporting Melinda French Gates at her company, Pivotal Ventures.

On the other end of the college process, Karen Cacace is looking forward to returning to Wesleyan in May with her husband, Mike Flynn ’93, to watch their daughter, Sophia, graduate.

Todd Graham and Julie Schwarzwald ’88 met up this winter in Minneapolis–St. Paul and combined their efforts to organize a large and successful Wes alumni happy hour. Todd leads socioeconomic and land development forecasting at a metro planning agency.

Beth Shakman Hurd is a religious studies and politics professor at Northwestern. She has a new book coming out in the spring, Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States, published with the University of Chicago Press.

Also in the writing business, Jen Crittenden reports that she just wrote the book to an original “raucous musical comedy about friendship, rebellion, and autonomy”—Regency Girls. Set in 1810 England, it tells the story of Elinor Benton, who finds herself unmarried and pregnant. Facing certain ruin, she gathers up her three best friends and sets off on a life-changing road trip to find Madame Restell, renowned for helping women with “female troubles.” Regency Girls will be premiering at The Old Globe theater in San Diego this spring.

Also out West, Ben Parrillo is taking a hiatus from entertainment (with his wife, Sepi, and their 7-year-old daughter, Leon Soleil), building houses in Joshua Tree, California, through his company Bunkrhome.

Jody Sperling and her dance company, Time Lapse Dance, are featured in the documentary Obsessed with Light, which was released in theaters in December. This winter, Jody and dancers are heading on a three-city tour of Egypt—they’ll be performing at Alexandria’s Bibliotheca, among other venues. When not traveling, Jody lives with her daughter, now in eighth grade, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  

In some very sad news, Carlos Perez reports that his family lost everything in the fires that recently swept through California. Steve Scholand offered Carlos his family home in Connecticut to have time to heal and recover.

And to close things out, we have a first-time notes contributor in Dale Griffith (Go Dale! I love hearing from new folks!). She has a lot of news to catch us up on. After Wesleyan, she taught for 10 years at York Correctional Institution for Women in Niantic, Connecticut. While at York, she worked with author Wally Lamb to publish a collection of the York women’s stories, published by HarperCollins in 2001. After some time in North Carolina, she returned to Connecticut, started teaching English at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, then became full-time faculty. After retiring there in 2016, she came full circle, working with the Wesleyan Center for Prison Education by teaching a course on public speaking at York Correctional.

That’s all for now. I love to hear from everyone, so please keep your news coming!

After giving up his career as a Latin language and literature professor for the greater calling of caregiving, Dr. Anthony (AJ) Adams is now writing a novel about American consciousness and a nonfiction book about the arts/science divide. AJ can be found at Substack at https://apageantofwolves.substack.com.

In Portland, Maine, Maria Snyder writes that in 2024, she became a Department of Justice accredited representative at Catholic Charities Maine Immigration Legal Services. In the role, Maria assists people with certain immigration-related legal issues and helps low-income folks with immigration applications that offer pathways toward stability and family reunification. “In this very changeable political climate, with so much bad information being spread about immigrants, it’s even more important that we all get the facts on immigration right.”

Jeff Levine has been appointed an associate professor of the practice at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. “I started at MIT just before COVID hit and that was a long year of teaching and advising remotely. It’s good to be teaching in a program that has a lot of the same values as Wesleyan. In fact, I’ve worked with several Wes alums who have come through our master’s program in the past few years.”

Mark Steele enjoys the new freedoms of “empty-nesterhood,” focusing on music and art, and splitting time between Boulder, Colorado, and MidCoast Maine. Thanks to a chance encounter in Waterville, Maine, Mark learned from Sarah Sutter about a program perfect for his daughter, Emily, who is now enjoying her second year at Tufts. Furthering Wes connections in non-Wes places, Emily co-creates art with Quinn, son of Scott Kessel ’88. Mark also teamed up with Lodi Siefer ’98 to form the Climate Justice Hive, a nonprofit focused on coordinating community in the face of climate chaos. Mark makes the pilgrimage back to Telluride to work at the film festival, often seeing fellow bassist Chris Arndt ’92 and Sarah Holbrooke ’86. Mark and family love travel adventures with Daren Girard ’92 and his family. Watch for Mark’s bass and vocals solo album in spring 2025, under the stage name Conrad Steele.

In 2024, Ed Gerwig and his wife, Robin Hutson, living near Boston, made their side hustle a full-time job for their travel advisory company luxerecess.com. You can stream some new music of Ed’s now side hustle under The Deerfields.

After 20 years in Atlanta, Pierrette Maillet moved with partner, Danny Karg, to the upper valley of Vermont. She’s in higher education, fundraising and alumni engagement, at Vermont Law and Graduate School and trying to find pickleball opportunities wherever she can. “Glad I took full advantage of those Wes quarter credits in racquet sports all those years ago—they’re paying off!”

Kristin Sandvik Lush taught ESOL in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa (New Zealand)—(the bilingual nation!) to students from all over the world for over 17 years, but thanks to COVID, made a transition into something completely different: self-employed academic editing (kristinlush.nz). Kristin is making an effort to expand beyond universities and academia and into a wider variety of written work in 2025.

Kristin was sorry to miss Jeremy Sacks and his wife, Dana, on their meticulously planned bucket- list odyssey in Aotearoa, and she encourages folks to add her current abode in Kerikeri to their list of destinations to check out—including the upside-down house restoration that she, her husband, and son (18) are up to their elbows in (while her urbane daughter, 20, holds down the fort in Auckland)!

Joshua Samuels was promoted to division chief of pediatric nephrology and hypertension at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston. He also serves as vice chair of faculty affairs for the Department of Pediatrics.

Laura Schiavo reports a 2024 Christmas miracle that gathered together 75 percent of her 1990–1991 Fountain Street housemates at her home in Silver Spring, Maryland. Heidi (Moore) Tucker was in D.C. visiting her daughter, and Tracey Osborne was in New York visiting family, making them both close enough to visit. They dearly missed Rachel Rosenberg Michaelson’s attendance.

Hi all. Here’s what we have:

Carol Lynne Booth writes with the exciting news that “son, Joshua Booth, got married on August 1 to his longtime boyfriend, Camden Brito. (Josh’s dad is David Booth ’91). They live happily in Seattle with their two cats. David and I are planning a six-week sabbatical in the spring, traveling mostly in Africa and the Middle East. We can’t wait!”

Ruben “Bengy” Ballesteros continues to be a staff attorney with Maryland Legal Aid in Towson, concentrating in representing youth in foster care and public benefits disputes.

Bill Shander shares exciting news: his first book, Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask, will be released at the end of April. In the book’s description, it says “author Bill Shander demonstrates how to get from your stakeholders’ ‘order’―what they’re asking for―to what they really need.” Look here for a preview: https://bhv.io/stakeholder-whispering

Al Viegas writes that “this is the year of graduations.” In December 2024, Al’s younger daughter, Ariana, graduated from Colorado College. Then in May 2025, “we have bi-coastal graduations on the same weekend with my oldest daughter, Alessandra ’20, graduating from USC with a MFA in dramatic writing on a Friday, and then two days later, my son will be graduating from Boston University. Meanwhile, my wife, Dora, and I continue to live in NYC, although we moved to the Upper East Side three years ago after living down in Battery Park/Tribeca since I came to NYC in the early 1990s! It’s a different vibe up here. I am reminded of when we first had kids, and it was like a major “aha moment” that you suddenly started to pay attention to other parents with strollers. . .  likewise, now it seems we are starting to notice the old people. . . .”

Speaking of graduations and aging, I hope everyone has our upcoming 35th(!) Reunion on the calendar. Looking forward to a wonderful weekend May 22–25! In the meantime, wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2025! 

We were glad to hear from a gaggle of classmates doing life and out in the Wesleyan wild meeting up with each other too.

Phineas Baxandall shares that after 20 years together, he and his partner, Sarah Hill, decided to get married. He writes: “We didn’t tell anybody at all until we were on vacation with our kids and told them, ‘Thanks for getting dressed up for dinner. Our reservation actually isn’t until later, but in 10 minutes there will be a knock on the door, and it will be a justice of the peace.’ It was really fun.” Phineas also celebrates his long tenure at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, where he serves as policy director. After serving as interim president last year, he’s looking forward to a two-month sabbatical this spring, during which he plans to live in Berlin, read novels in cafes, and travel. Upon returning, his family will welcome a new puppy, following the loss of their loyal dog, Sadie, last fall at age 18.

David Eichler and his partner, Diane, moved to Billings, Montana, three years ago, after living in Los Angeles, Mountain View, Phoenix, and Denver. They are celebrating their 28th anniversary this year. David sold his PR agency after 18 years and is now in his second year of a master’s in clinical social work, with plans to open a therapy practice this summer. Reflecting on Wesleyan memories, David writes: “It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since my fellow film majors and I were huddled in that dark screening room in the arts center. We were so fortunate to be learning from Professor Jeanine Basinger.” He was also saddened, as many of us were, over the losses of Rob James ’88 and Tim McCallum ’88 in recent years. 

Ellen Ross Shields and John Shields have lived in Davis, California, for 22 years, after nine years in San Francisco. Ellen is a middle school counselor, and John is director of client relations for DWS, a real estate/finance subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. Ellen shares: “Our 26-year-old daughter is in her last year of a JD/MPH program in New York, and our 28-year-old, theme park–loving son is trying to break into film/video editing in Orlando—any Wes grads down there?” They look forward to retirement and promise to attend a reunion someday. 

Peter Badalament, with extensive experience as a school principal, was recently appointed principal of the A.R. Gould School at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine. Before his administrative roles, Peter taught high school English, geography, and history at the Lab School of Washington, a therapeutic day school for students with social and emotional challenges. He has also served as a project manager at Tyler Technologies and as adjunct faculty at the University of New England, teaching courses in educational leadership and organizational theory. 

Topher Dunne is in his 30th year teaching high school history and social science at Georgetown Day School this year and has been happy to point various students toward Wesleyan over the years. Topher and spouse, Kathy, live in Arlington with their 23-year-old daughter.

Lori Lobenstine issuper excited about having her first children’s book coming out! It’s based on the true story of Lori and her goddaughter, Sophie, co-creating the first ever “by-dogs-for-dogs” newspaper, starting when Sophie was 10 years old (she’s now 20). Here’s a little bit more on it: https://www.levinequerido.com/barking-puppy.

Alex McClennen Dohan reports having been married to Dave Dohan for over 30 years, working for Mass Audubon for 20 years, and having a daughter turning 30 in the spring (and a son who is 27). Alex shares: “The best parts of our past year were two trips to Colorado—a place we’d never visited before! One was to the San Juan Mountains with both kids and their significant others for some backpacking, and the other was to Boulder, where I got to catch up with Lisa Michael, who lives in the area and also Greg Benson (who lives in New Jersey, but was on the trip with us). 

Kelem Butts shared something of a New York story: “My girlfriend, Lori, and I went to New York to see Eric Stuart who was in visiting his parents from London. While we were there, we also hung out with Andre Kikoski ’90. Then we had a pleasant surprise—it turns out Tom Policelli was in from Connecticut, so we all met up with him for lunch.”They also dined with Greg Berman and Carolyn Vellenga Berman ’90. Lori noted how lucky Kelem is “to have so many excellent friends, and it’s all thanks to Wes!” We agree! 

Karen McVey Fussell writes: “I continue to live a blessed life on our 45-acre former farmstead property in Maine. It’s hard to believe, but I am starting my 25th year as finance director for the City of Brewer. It’s a great job, but I have definitely started dreaming of retirement. Our son graduates from West Point this May, majoring in Chinese and cybersecurity. Our daughter is taking a gap year, which she kicked off with a transformational volunteer stint in Arusha, Tanzania. Working full time to earn money to travel more, she’s scheduled to go back in February and this summer, recruiting me and other family to join her. My husband just turned 80 (CRAZY!) but you would never know it. LIFE IS GOOD!” 

After seven years living in Alaska and a beautiful drive home across Canada, Jim Levine is back living just a few miles from Wesleyan—which means he’s on campus often, swimming and working out at the Freeman Athletic Center, he says. His kids have flown the coop and are doing well, and after 20-plus years as an ER doc, including at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and in rural Alaska, he’s working on deciding what he wants to do when he grows up. He’d love to see anyone who is in the area! 

Eric Neuhaus writes that he is senior vice president of development for Glass Entertainment and that it was an exciting year for new TV shows they developed. Last year they released the worldwide hit documentary film Bitconned (Netflix), about one of the biggest cyrpto scams; Wiggin Out with Tokyo Stylez, a docuseries following a trans-celebrity hairstylist; Kill or Be Killed (Peacock), examining cases of murder or self-defense; a game show pilot for Fox based on the iconic video game Pong. He says: “There is always something new on the horizon. Stay tuned for some new documentary projects in 2025 that will entertain and inform.” 

For Brad Frank, 2024 was a crazy year. He writes: “I lost my job but found a better one. My daughter entered her senior year of high school and found a new home at Syracuse University for 2025. My 15-year-old son set aside his baseball bat and glove and found a new passion in crew. No more batting eighth and playing right field. Now it’s sitting in the stroke seat and sweeping the eight- and four-person skulls down the river. And while November of 2024 was hard on my wife, she continues to guide our family with confidence.”

Ellen Forney just started grad school at the University of Washington School of Social Work, to be a therapist specializing in bipolar. Ellen has been a visual artist, cartoonist, and comics teacher since graduating from Wes with a degree in psychology and has been gradually coming back around to psych—with a 2012 graphic memoir about, she says, “my own bipolar: Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me (Penguin); then a 2018 graphic handbook on mental health, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life (Fantagraphics). I’m finishing up a workbook for kids on how to make comics, due out summer 2025: The Adventures of You! Write, Draw, and Star in Your Own Comics (Workman). I was delighted to hang out with Rachael Timberlake ’90 (Butterfield hallmate bestie) when she visited Seattle recently for a seminar.” 

Michele Chase Kashap will be back on campus to celebrate as her first born, Alessandro Kashap ’25, graduates from Wes this year. So cool! Congrats!!! 

As for me (Michele), I narrowly “dodgeballed” a midlife crisis by first renaming it a “midlife exploration” and then kicking off an adult gap year (read: FUNemployment) with a solo trip to Europe—three countries in three weeks with a carry-on only—in which I planned nearly nothing, garden partied with complete strangers (yep), watched sunrise over Prague castle, and ate so much gelato in various parts of Italy as a meal supplement that my cholesterol shot up. Oops. I even stayed in an old, beautiful, and affordable former monastery on the Amalfi Coast—which had both a bar and a chapel. So basically, win-win y’all. 🙂

We appreciate you, each of you, and hope to see you out here in the Wesleyan wild. Stay in touch!

Please write to your class secretaries.

Hello, Class of ’87!

For this column, I connected our updates with our college majors. See whether you find the through lines. And stay tuned for an interesting further class connection. 

Paulina Bren published her latest book in September, She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street, which tells the outrageous history of the women who came to Wall Street from the 1950s through 9/11. Her Wesleyan friends (Anne Dunham, Vivian Trakinski, Jeremy Mindich, Becca Gallagher, Adrienne Fitzgerald, Ralph Savarese ’86,and Pauline Frommer ’88) attended her launches in NYC, for which she’s grateful as always, she writes, because the trick is to plant allies in the audience, preferably in disguise. She-Wolves was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2024 by the Kirkus Reviews. Paulina was a College of Letters major.

Michael Peter Edson has been working as a museum director and digital cultural strategist in the U.S. and Europe. He has focused on encouraging cultural institutions to address large-scale societal challenges such as climate action and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In 2024, he finished four years as the founding director of the Museum of Solutions (MuSo)—a state-of-the-art facility in Mumbai, India. MuSo is dedicated to inspiring and empowering young people to solve the world’s most pressing problems. In its opening year, MuSo was named to Time magazine’s World’s 100 Greatest Places list and won the prestigious Hands On! Children in Museums Award bestowed by the European Museum Academy and the International Association of Children in Museums. Mike has been married to Leslie Spitz-Edson ’86, his TA for intro to music history sophomore year, for more than 30 years. He’s happy to talk with Wesleyan grads, especially those working in arts/culture and sustainable development! Mike was an art major. His thesis was a show of prints about television static—something that his kids can barely relate to!

Josh Calder, a government major, has finished the last Wesleyan-assigned book on his to-read list! He put it on the list on May 18, 1987, and finished it 37 years, 6 months, and 11 days later, in November 2024, if I have my math right. Josh has alerted Professor Burns that he is in the clear.

J.B. Davis is following one path of the common life patterns I’ve been noticing—as a milestone birthday approaches, many of us are planning retirement, but a significant number of us are planning their next professional acts. J.B. is in a graduate certificate program in nonprofit management. He’s using the classes and Case Western’s connections to the Cleveland community to transition from a 25-year career in corporate marketing to a sector that, now more than ever, needs to effectively deploy resources to fulfill their missions. J.B.’s kids are university students—Abby, creative writing at Iowa; Eli, pre-med at Case; and Josiah, 1L at Ohio State. J.B. and his wife, Rachel, celebrate their 25th in May. J.B. was a double major in government and American studies.

As for me, I was an American studies major, and I got certified to teach high school English through the Educational Studies Program while I was an undergrad. I didn’t have enough confidence at the time to be an English major. Later, I got a master’s degree in English. I taught for five years, including in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and at the East New York High School of Transit Technology in the New York City Public Schools. I transitioned to a career in educational publishing. I worked for Pearson, mostly developing literacy curriculum for 6–12 English. Now, I work for myself as consultant and freelancer supporting nonprofits and developing curriculum. I am currently working on a reading program for McGraw Hill, and I have worked on social studies programs for states on both sides of the political spectrum. So, I am making good use of my degree. 

Johanna Maaghul is spending more time in the U.S. after six years of living primarily in Switzerland. She is still working as a literary agent to help publish books that focus on functional medicine, health, and healing, and institutional whistleblowers. Johanna extended her work to include film representation. She is eager to review any nonfiction works by classmates on their adventures in this space. Johanna was a government major with a minor in music at Wesleyan and reports it didn’t have much impact on her career.

So, what’s the “interesting class connection” about our college majors? As I pressed classmates for their majors, Johanna shared her professional interest in the same question. She and her husband are launching a new platform in 2025 that rewards people for sharing verified portfolios including education and career information online with their alma maters and former employers. She can be reached at johanna@nextwaveresources.com and will also share more on this in future notes.

Finally, Ralph Worrick ’88 shared late news that Alison Sprout passed away in November. They both lived in WestCo. They were never tremendously close friends, but he always enjoyed her sardonic humor and quirky kindness. He had a nice visit with her and her son, Peregrine, in 2012. Many of you have written to express condolences.

Until next time . . .

Michael Levin wrote: “With profound sadness, we share that Mark Hill passed away in September.

“Friends including Steve Cadigan, Gus Conroy, Jeff Dorsey ’85, Art Horst (and wife, Martha), Jerry Hourihan, Jeremy Mindich ’87, Ralph Savarese, Tina Varone Zimmerman (and husband, Peter), and Tony Zimmerman (and wife, Ann), and I—many of whom had lived with Mark in Foss 10, Foss 6, or at 151 Church Street—traveled from across the country and even overseas to attend his funeral. Over the weekend, we shared memories, tears, laughs, and hugs and exchanged stories with each other and with Mark’s family, including his wife, Jackie, children Erica and Nick, his mother, and five older siblings. In celebration of Mark’s life, Gus Conroy spoke eloquently, poignantly, and humorously, recalling moments as Mark’s roommate at Wesleyan, living together in Taiwan after college, and, most recently, hosting Mark at his home near Houston when Mark was being treated for cancer at MD Anderson, as well as invoking Buddhist teachings learned in one of several classes they took together at Wes. Since Mark’s death, we have communicated more frequently by group text, and we are already looking forward to being together for Reunion weekend in 2026 (when two Horst children and one Mindich are scheduled to graduate from Wesleyan) and hoping also to gather at some point in 2025.

“We encourage classmates, teammates, people who attended parties at 151 Church Street, and anyone else who wants to share memories of Mark to email classnotes@wesleyan.edu or offer condolences to his family via michaeljlevin@yahoo.com.”

A link to Mark’s obituary can be found online at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu.

Marc Rosner shared: “I got married to Diane Gross in January, retired from teaching science in June, and incorporated Hudson Valley Numismatics. This includes pro bono appraisals and home visits for seniors, vets, and those in need. Met Dave Warne for dinner to catch up; he looks the same as he did back in Clark. 

Grace Huschle Delobel, a first-time contributor to the ’86 Class Notes(!), sent in this news: “Since graduating, I’ve had the chance to live an ordinary life in some extraordinary places—Nepal, Tanzania, Pakistan, the Philippines, and for the past 25 years, France. I raised three kids, adopted a bunch of pets, and work as a scientific translator. Living overseas has its ups and downs, especially losing touch with people, but I’m trying to change that (starting with this Class Notes entry . . . ). On the flip side, living in Europe offers some valuable advantages. Due to recent events in the USA, I decided to launch a new venture, Onsite Insight France (www.onsiteinsightfrance.com), to share my experience with anyone toying with the idea of relocating abroad. I tried to convince Tamar Rothenberg, Dana Martin, Lyndsey Layton, and Susannah Goodman ’87 to take the leap during a Thanksgiving trip to the U.S. No luck yet, but I am working on it.—Grace”

Welcome to 2025, our 40th Reunion year! I hope that you’re planning to come to Middletown in May. Here’s a bunch of good news to whet your reunion appetite:

Marcelo Halpern got married on October 26 to Tamara Chaplin, a professor of modern European history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Representing the Wesleyan cohort were Jill Hamada and Jonathan Axelrad ’84.  Marcelo’s “kids,” Samantha (28–a cardiothoracic surgery resident at Massachusetts General) and Noah (26–a data scientist for a tech start-up in San Francisco) were there as well. He lives in Chicago, continuing his career as a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, focusing on technology transactions. Marcelo will miss the reunion this year, but before you feel too sorry for him, know that he’ll “be on an extended trip in Europe [taking] a three-month sabbatical from work.” Marcelo would love to hear from anyone in or passing through the Chicago area.

Beth Purnell Gartman will wrap up her 36th year as a school psychologist this summer and will “likely” work in educational consulting next. She recently moved to a new home in Atlanta near Emory, with a pool, great walking trails, and a nature preserve nearby, and a wonderful guest suite—she welcomes Wes visitors! Beth also sings in a community chorus and formed an a cappella group with colleagues who also sang in a cappella groups in college. She adds, “I keep in close touch with Jenny Henkind and Amy Hamburg Shir. We began a tradition of taking a yearly getaway together, which has been a great way to stay connected. Whether we are perusing art at a festival in Louisville, hiking in the woods, or downing oysters on the half shell, we have created memories and a closeness that we all cherish.” Beth also spent time with her children in Italy: “A true highlight … was a day trip from Siena through Tuscany, which included a three-hour meal at Officina della Bistecca in Panzano in Chianti. We not only savored every course but enjoyed the company of diners from all around the world who desired to experience a meal prepared by Dario Cecchini.”

Ken Haim wrote just after landing in Hong Kong to say that he was “devastated by the loss of Bill Queen ’86” and that recognizing how precious our time is “we are traveling more extensively. I am amazed at how much has changed and how much is the same.”

Rob Menard went to the wedding of Ethan Beardsley ’86 in Paris in September, and “to Hanoi for the seventh time to perform craniofacial surgery there as a clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford.”

Terry McClenahan’s first grandchild, Arthur, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in June 2024! “If he was any cuter it’d be illegal,” he reports. Terry adds, “Daughter, Katie, is a 2L at Georgetown Law, and our son, Rory ’24, graduated in May from Wesleyan (no less). Last summer he was a field organizer for Josh Riley’s successful New York [Congressional District] 19 campaign for the U.S. House. My wife, Kara Kelly, continues to do astounding work in her eighth year as chief of pediatric oncology at two Buffalo hospitals and the medical school. I still work on warehouse and commercial projects with Acquest Design.” It will be no surprise that Terry is rowing “with Buffalo River RC, winning medals at Midwest Sprints and Head of the Welland Regattas.” He also got to race at the Head of the Charles Regatta for “the 14th or 15th time.” Terry also recently heard from another crew buddy, Bill Wasch ’84.

Crystal Turner-Moffatt, an expert in environmental and occupational health and safety in the construction industry, is completing her PhD this spring.

Margaret Bracken Thompson saw Lynn Meade ’86 in Palm Springs during Modernism Week (February 2024) at the convention center there. Margaret report’s that Lynn’s “art is amazing!”

Paul Kusserow’s book, The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces That Will Cure America’s Healthcare Crisis, has recently been published. Paul notes that it is “selling well.”

Hilary Jacobs Hendel also has a new book coming out in 2025, Parents Have Feelings, Too. Hilary’s oldest daughter recently got married, and her youngest child became a medical doctor!