Class Notes

If you haven’t done the math, Topher Bellavia, Sam Effron, and Koyalee Chanda are reminding you that it’s been almost 30 years since we graduated: “Huge hello to all ’96ers from your Reunion chairs! This is your reminder to save the date for our 30th Reunion in Middletown, Connecticut, May 22–25, 2026. If you were at our 20th, you know it was a total blast because of the massive turnout we had (in fact, it was to date the biggest turnout for a 20th reunion ever—record-breaking!). We cannot state it any plainer: The more folks come, the better it will be. Talk to your friends now. Make your plans. Cannot wait to see all of you!”

Now that you’ve got that on your calendar, let’s turn to what our classmates are doing. Jesse Wegman writes: “I’m living with my wife, Kyra, and two girls in northern Vermont, on the shores of Lake Champlain, a COVID relocation from Brooklyn that happened before we knew it. This whole region feels like a Wesleyan settlement, which is comforting. I still write for The New York Times, editorials signed and unsigned, and am about to publish my second book, The Lost Founder,a biography of James Wilson, the most democratic, prescient, and unjustly ignored of the American founders. It is coming out in the spring to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”

Cayetana Navarro has finally concluded a 30-plus-year love affair with New York City by putting a ring on it. She moved to central Harlem in July. She’s still working for Yale School of Medicine as a program manager in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ironically, having lived in Connecticut for the past 18 years just half an hour from Wes, she hopes she’ll finally start “bumping into” some ’96ers now!  

Rallie Snowden was thrilled that she and her kids got to spend spring break exploring two D.C. museums with Anne Brockelman, her husband, and their kids. “We played soccer, ate yummy food, and caught up. It was great to be together.”

Dacque Tirado writes that he is enjoying the summer months by participating in a wonderful week of service with Habitat for Humanity on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and then taking in the summer vibes in the cutest little beach town on the Atlantic—Oak Island, North Carolina. He looks forward to seeing some Wes folk in D.C. in late August. 

As for me (Dara Federman), I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to attend Reunion this spring. My older daughter is graduating from (a different) college that same weekend. I had been looking forward to it, especially since the last in-person reunion was in 2016. Alas—can’t wait to hear all your stories about it, and I’ll see you at the 35th!

Hi ’95ers!

We had a very successful Reunion in May, and it was terrific seeing everyone. We had a bit of a hiccup with gathering notes this round, but we look forward to sharing everyone’s updates in the next issue.

Eric Meyerson sent this to us just after we gathered on campus in May:

“Reunion 2025 was amazing—seriously one of the highlights of the 2020s for me. What I love best about reunions is that I end up spending time hanging with people who I maybe didn’t hang with so much when we were in school, and yet, it always feels like being with old friends. It’s a shame we only do this once every five years. Even with weirdly cold weather, hanging on Foss Hill until the wee hours was so good for the soul. 

“Update on me: I’m going to mark 25 years in San Francisco this summer. My wife, Annette, and I decided to settle here permanently in the late 2000s, and it was an excellent decision, even when I miss my East Coast family and friends. My daughter, Ellie, is now getting a full blast of the eastern liberal arts experience at Smith College. (We’ll see if her younger brother has a similar desire.) When I’ve visited her, I’ve been able to see Eitan Mendelowitz, who’s been in Northampton for a long time. And at Reunion I found out that Greg Rolland, Peter Follet, and Stephanie Flaherty are also in the hood, so I’m excited to get back and catch up with everyone.

“I do see my Wes people here in San Francisco when I can. I grabbed lunch with Ben Foss a couple weeks ago and Roxane Williams a few days later. Both are doing great, and both sent their regrets for Reunion—you were missed! I also just went for a hike with Vivek Asija ’96.

“If anyone wants to come visit us in San Francisco, I have a little cottage out back with your name on it. If you need a break from the summer heat, it’ll probably be 62 and foggy here. Leave your swimsuit at home.”

Thanks, Eric!

Greetings from Chicago!  I hope everyone had a nice summer. My daughters and I got to catch up with Sarah Burke and her daughter who were in town for a wedding. Sarah and I lived together our senior year with Emily Rothman—Sarah saw Emily earlier in the summer.

I also hosted a summer send-off for Chicagoland area students who are starting their Wes journey! It was really great working with Wes director of engagement programs, Lucy Diaz, and senior development officer, Tim O’Brien. 

I got a few reports from our class:

Peter Chandler just completed his one-year anniversary as executive director of Internet Works, a Washington, D.C.–based trade organization of 23 “middle tech” companies working together to rightsize regulatory tech policy and preserve the Internet as a place of limitless opportunity. Peter reports that this is the happiest he’s been professionally and that building an organization from the ground up is both challenging and rewarding. Peter was also recently elected as co-chair of the National LGBTQ Task Force, which builds power, takes action, and creates change to achieve freedom, justice, and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

Peter also hung out with Robin Shane and Lourdes Arista in D.C. over a summer weekend.

Charlotte Castillo writes that “it’s been a great summer connecting with Wes folks in NYC. Recently Charlotte co-hosted the WesLAN Summer Dance Social with Niko Ortega ’19 and Melvin Acevedo ’99. It was a blast to pick up some new salsa and bachata steps with the Wes fam.

Charlotte has also “enjoyed quality time with Patria Rodriguez ’93, Cynthia Centeno ’93, Lisette Nieves ’92, Nicole Rodriguez ’97, Marysol Castro ’96, Dolores Concepcion ’98, Kimberly Cooper King ’97, and so many others.”

Adam Glickman checked in from a trip to Sitka, Alaska, where he was dropping off his youngest child to college. Now an empty nester, Adam says he will have more time for class notes!

John Pollock is still in Montgomery, Alabama, where an eight-month job stint has become 20 years. His son, Merritt, who just turned 10, is obsessed with biochemistry, immunology, and anatomy. 

John recently connected with his former High Rise/Low Rise roomie Elizabeth Rand, who is in Connecticut and runs the Kids Kippot store on Etsy. John also keeps in touch with another roommate, Troy Montoya, who is married and living in Dallas. When John was last in D.C., he caught up with Aaron Siskind ’93 and Steve Karon ’92, with whom he was in a baseball fantasy league from 1992 to 2018!

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall!

Hi, Wes friends. We have some exciting updates this issue—new jobs, empty nests, documentary premieres, and other updates. As always, we appreciate hearing from you, so please keep sharing updates! 

Julie Anderson writes, “I am in the process of transitioning to a new job as head of school of Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut. Rectory is a junior boarding and day school serving students from pre-K to ninth grade. My husband and I recently purchased a home in Maine, where we look forward to spending time during vacations. My oldest child is a recent graduate of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and works for a nonprofit that supports employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. My youngest will be a junior at Hampshire College, where he is engaged in theater and gender studies.” 

Shana Ciociola Boniface emails, “I’m still in Montclair, New Jersey, a town so filled with Wes alumni that there are three of us on my block, all in vastly different graduating years, but still, what are the chances?! In other Wesleyan-related news, my older daughter will be attending Wesleyan in the fall as a recruited rower! We are so thrilled for her!” 

Jacob Bricca writes, “I’m happy to report that two documentaries that I worked on recently made their premieres. I was at the world premiere of The Chaplain and the Doctor, which I edited, at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April, and was thrilled to collaborate with Ted Reichman ’95 on the music for the film. The doc is about two extraordinary women trying to fix a broken health care system in Oakland, California. I also celebrated the release of Marriage Cops, which I co-edited, at the HotDocs International Documentary Film Festival in May. It’s a cinema verité account of a group of female police officers deputized to provide marriage counseling in northern India. Each will be released to the general public later this year.”

Dave Davis provides an update: “Greetings from sunny Manhattan Beach, California! Lynne and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We have two amazing daughters—our eldest is heading into her senior year at UC Berkeley, and our youngest will begin her college journey at Vanderbilt this fall. With both girls off to school, we’ll soon be empty nesters! On the professional side, I co-founded a start-up in 2023 called Calliope Networks. We focused on licensing audiovisual works to generative AI companies for model training. Late last year, we were acquired by a larger start-up called Protege. I now lead Protege’s content licensing division, and I’m happy to report it’s been a great ride so far.”

Jodi Samuels writes, “My spouse, Evan, and I are now splitting our time between our townhouse in Sacramento, California, and an apartment in downtown Evanston, Illinois (just a few blocks from the Northwestern campus), so that we can be closer to his family in the Chicago area. Our two kitties are gradually getting adjusted to flying back and forth with us (wish they could get their own frequent flyer accounts! ). We spent New Year’s in Vancouver, British Columbia, again this year and participated in another Polar Bear Swim in English Bay on January 1. Other international travel included a week in Singapore in March and a weeklong river cruise in Lyon, France, with some of Evan’s family. Finally, as part of my path toward transitioning to an encore career in the language professions, I’m now part of the French volunteer translator team for Kiva.org, a great microlending organization.”

Steve Wald emails, “Rachel Whitaker and I celebrated 32 years together in early June. Nineteen years in Urbana, Illinois, just down the street from the wonderful Evelyn Shapiro ’87. Rachel is the Harry E. Preble Professor of Microbiology at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; I am living a SiSP graduate’s dream as director of government relations for the College of ACES (agriculture), here in the heart of the Corn Belt. Did you know Wesleyan was home to the nation’s first agricultural experiment station in 1875? In frequent touch with classmates . . . Wes equipped us for this awesome, awful moment. Hold strong!”

Hello, Class of 1992!

Hope everyone had a great summer! Here’s the news!

First up, some fantastic literary achievements from our classmates. Amy (Andrews) Alznauer has a new book published this past March: The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape. Beth Shakman Hurd’s latest book, Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States, was published by University of Chicago Press. In May, Jonathan Liebson published Hello (and Goodbye) to All That with Post Hill Press, a memoir of a changing New York since the new millennium.

Kevin Prufer has been named the 2026 Texas poet laureate! Kevin continues as professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of Houston. Also in academia, Abby (Smith) Saguy received the 2025 Open Inquiry Award for Teaching from the Heterodox Academy, recognizing her work promoting viewpoint diversity in her sociology courses on sex and gender.

On the career front, Christine Bolzan has a new job as vice chancellor of experiential education for Northeastern University. She had a chance this spring to catch up with Robert and Elena (’93) Allbritton in Washington, D.C., learning about the launch of the Allbritton Journalism Institute.

Dr. John “Juan” Luque was recently awarded a Fulbright grant to spend a sabbatical in Quito, Ecuador, working on a cancer prevention project.

My old housemate, Simon Fulford, is opening a brand-new, 40-bed, youth residential treatment campus this summer in Portland. Simon notes that Oregon ranks as one of the worst states for kids to access behavioral health services, and they’re working to fill that gap. His youngest son is entering ninth grade, his middle son will be a senior, and his eldest (22) is back in the Pacific Northwest after almost three years in Argentina.

Joy Rhoden watched her son, Nolan Lewis ’25, graduate from Wesleyan this past May. Nolan double majored in neuroscience and CEAS and is now living in Brooklyn pursuing both his music career and neuroscience. Joy continues to serve as co-chair of the Wesleyan Black Alumni Council through June 2026.

Rob and Dorothea Harper-Mangels also welcomed their son, Ramey ’25, into the ranks of Wesleyan alumni this May. In June, they caught up with former housemates Maria Truglio and Rich Dansky in Stamford, Connecticut. Maria was visiting the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale for research (where Rob works as an associate dean).

Darcy Dennett has been working for JPMorganChase, making a few short pieces on the art installations that are part of the new headquarters in NYC.

After 30 years in the Boston area, Lori Oakes-Coyne and her husband, Greg, moved back home to central Maine and are loving the quiet. Their daughter, Kate, just graduated from University of Vermont this year with a dance/physiology double major, interested in movement therapy.

Also in New England, Joan Matelli spent her summer studying for the Massachusetts bar exam. She’s also made time for a few Red Sox games with Matthew Wein, as they try to do every summer.

Byron King continues to enjoy life in Baltimore, writing code and leading software teams. Last month, he met up with Julien Farland in D.C. where their families had a great time catching up. Byron’s daughter, Merriwether King ’27, is enjoying her summer off before starting her junior year.

Out in Colorado, Chris Arndt and his wife, Patty, are coming up on their 10th anniversary of living there. This fall both their sons, Alden (15) and Graham (14), will be attending St. Andrews boarding school in Delaware. Chris continues working on clean energy initiatives and is getting back into music recording under “The Doc Project.”

Sarah Leavitt is now director of curatorial affairs at the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., working with executive director Beatrice Gurwitz ’01. Their current exhibition, LGBTJews in the Federal City, runs through January 4, 2026.

Michelle Elisburg’s daughters have graduated and moved on—Elana from college to Kansas City for work and Abby from high school to study abroad before college. As she prepares for empty nesting, Michelle became board certified in breastfeeding and lactation medicine. She is a founding participant in this new specialty, helping non-English-speaking refugee and immigrant patients.

Louie Maggiotto has launched a new career as an independent educational consultant, turning his side hustle into his main hustle after getting two kids into college. He coached 14 seniors last year and is growing a new crop this cycle. His website is OurCollegeCounselor.com.

That’s all for now! As always, I love hearing from everyone. Remember, the magazine is only published twice a year now, so if I didn’t hear from you this time, I’d love to hear from you for the next notes!

Adam

After more than 20 years of service in the federal government with the General Services Administration, Jim Ghiloni decided to take Elon Musk up on his offer to pay him in full for the rest of the calendar year to not work for the government and is now waiting his official retirement date. He is now leveraging his experience in government contracting and procurement as a consultant and generating more than enough work to keep busy. Jim reports that GSA came out of the transition less traumatically than agencies like USAID or State, but it still saw significant impacts. For the price of a cup of coffee, he will spill the tea to anyone in or visiting the D.C. area.  

Narda Jones, after a storied career that began in AmeriCorps, moved to the Senate, White House, and the FCC (where she served as chief of staff to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel ’93), has also departed federal service. After some time off, she joined the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies as a senior fellow, supporting legislative affairs and stakeholder outreach efforts to promote equity-centered technology and economic policy.

David Thomson is in his last year of his term as chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, the second Wesleyan graduate to serve as chief justice, with the first being Richard Bosson ’66. David is thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with Butterfield alums Yuki Shimmyo Dumaresq and Galen Plona in New York, where they saw The Picture of Dorian Gray and took a visit up to campus, which they plan to reprise in 2025. While at Wesleyan, David visited Professor Alyx Mark’s classes to discuss judicial decision-making, law school, and his clerkship opportunity program.

Jen Craig Fletcher, in Sydney, along with Kristi Hanson in Melbourne, are the 1991 representatives for Australia. In July, Jen escaped the cold and wet, heading to Northampton, Massachusetts, for mini-Wes reunions, first with Joanie Menefee, Laurie Woods, and Silvia Mayo Molina; then with Joanie, Joseph Entin and Sophie Bell at their lake cottage in Chesterfield, Massachusetts.

All who gathered are all educators: Dr. Joanie Menefee is a creative writing professor at the University of Wisconsin at Stout; Dr. Joseph Entin is a professor of English and American studies at Brooklyn College; Dr. Sophie Bell is a writing professor at St. John’s College; Dr. Laurie Woods is a reading interventionist at Bridges Public Charter school in D.C. (founded by Olivia Smith ’90); Dr. Silvia Mayo Molina is a former middle school principal in Middletown; and Jen is head of English at St. Charbel’s College (high school) in Sydney.

From educators to getting educated: After 30-plus years in the Boston high-tech start-up scene, Nikolaus Bates-Haus changed careers to forest ecology. After a year of incidental coursework and two research assistant positions, he began a PhD at Boston University in September 2025.

Sarah Lewis Chaskes does both! She continues to teach sixth grade, plans to complete her master’s degree in education, with a concentration in social justice, in December 2025. Michael Chaskes edits unscripted television and was granted membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE) honorary society. Recent credits including With Love, Meghan for Netflix and Deal or No Deal Island for NBC.  

Cameron Gearen marks 13 years of Gearen Consulting, her educational consulting firm that supports students and families through the college application process. Cameron’s main hobby is songwriting, singing, and playing guitar; and you can find her single “Arkansas” on streaming platforms.

She’s married to Eric Savlin, a graphic designer, and they live outside of Chicago. Her older daughter is in LA, and her younger daughter (Oberlin ’24) had a successful Fulbright year in Taiwan. Cameron reports on quality in-person time with Zan (Susanna) Barry, Whitney Lukens, Nicole Fluhr, Sophie Bell, Joseph Entin, Stephanie (Donohue) Pilla ’90, and Sarah Ellenzweig ’90. 

Julie Huck’s enjoyable life includes visits with her adult kiddos in San Diego and at Fordham in NYC, fundraising for Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, and spending time on or in the Minneapolis lakes. She says, “If you’re passing through for a conference or en route to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, please say hello!”

Randall Cook celebrated his daughter’s, Rose Cook ’25, graduation from Wesleyan in May, and snuck in some reunion time with Merri Rosen ’90.

Which brings notes to a close, with a reminder that it’s our reunion year in 2026.  Until then, stay in touch.

Hello all! Here’s what we have:

Al Viegas writes with the unexpected news that he will be starting in September as an astronomy professor and observatory director at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York. After 35 years in finance, Al has always wanted to teach and is really excited about becoming a part-time professor. “I am still four to five years away from retiring, so this will be mostly a night gig, but it sets me up for another decade or two after retirement working with kids and teaching science, which is great! Ironically, while I did not major in astronomy at Wesleyan, I actually chose Wesleyan because of Van Vleck Observatory! So, life has had a nice boomerang effect here and I am psyched!”

Lara Goldmark wrote in while relaxing in the South of France with her mother’s side of the family, in the same little town where she got married 27 years ago. “At the wedding, back in the day, were several folks who are all doing great—some attended the recent Wesleyan reunion this May and then went on to an off-campus swim team gathering: Maria Floyd Cohen ’91, Susie Wigdale ’89, Jil Zilligen, Courtney Fahy ’89, and Mark Mullen ’89. My co-founder and I recently stayed at Mark’s apartment in Barcelona when we went to pitch her business school buddies to invest in ZForm, our app to eliminate bureaucracy. We hire Wes grads btw. 🙂 End of this month am looking forward to seeing Drew Weissman ’88; he married one of my best friends from high school and they are also doing great.”

Victor Khodadad continues to be heavily involved with his opera company, New Camerata Opera, which is based in New York City. “The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization produced an immersive and thought-provoking production of Peter Brook’s La tragedie de Carmen at The Nagelberg Theatre in Manhattan in the fall of 2024. NCO is also committed to education in the arts and has recently presented all three of its children’s operas—Party at the Opera, Peter Rabbit, and Rumpelstiltskin—at NYC schools. Victor recently joined the board of directors and is gearing up for the next main stage production. More information is available at www.newcamerataopera.org.”

Becky Lloyd DesRoches had a great time catching up with so many classmates at our reunion and plans to make many mini-reunions between now and our 40th. Becky writes of two highlights from the year. In May Becky got promoted to associate professor of psychology at Regis College—“long time coming. The best spring highlight was playing in the South African Grannies International Football Tournament at Nkowankowa Stadium. Yes, I’m that kind of soccer mom—my kids don’t play anymore but I do.”

Tim Freundlich did the pandemic two-step and moved from San Francisco to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 2020, with Gus (now 16), Milo (now 19, and who just finished his first year at Holy Cross), spouse, Julie Dowd, and small dog, Russell, and a bigger dog, Lexi. Tim has recently co-founded another “impact investing” endeavor, CataCap.org (and still is working at the firm he founded, ImpactAssets).

Finally, Nadine Angress writes that she had a great time attending our 35th Reunion and connecting with many people she hadn’t seen in years. Nadine also went to the Rhode Island home of Jen Zoltners Sherer ’91, “where we had a mini- reunion/memorial with swim team friends to celebrate Ernie Luikart who died in the fall of ’24. From the Class of 1990 there was Jil Zilligen, Wendy Herrick, Ed Brown, Greg Lesser, [and] Dave Griffith. [Other Wes attendees] were Renée Carl ’91,Maria Floyd Cohen ’91, Bill Fabbri ’91, Ann Goebel-Fabbri ’91, Courtney Fahy ’89,and Missy Brown ’89. It was wonderful to remember our cherished friend while also enjoying reconnecting.”

That’s all for now. Wishing everyone happiness in the upcoming holidays. I will be back in touch early next year.

Please send news to your class secretaries.

Happy fall, classmates. Steve writes for this column.

Josephine Colon wrote in to catch up with life events and smiled at my reference to ’88ers “gittin’ old!” You see, she was originally in the Class of ’76, took a personal leave, and returned—with two small boys—to graduate with us in the Class of ’88. To her Wesleyan bachelor’s degree in government, she added a master’s in education and a postgraduate certificate in teaching middle school math from Quinnipiac University. After a career in human resources in Manhattan, she returned to Connecticut, changed careers to certified school teaching, and retired in 2015. She now enjoys giving back through volunteering, mostly as a literacy tutor, and does her own art. “Much peace to all of you!—Josephine.”

Robert Garcia joins the list of ’88ers who are published authors. His memoir Bobbito’s Book of B-ball Bong Bong hit the shelves in July and was published by fellow Wesleyan alum Johnny Temple at Akashic Books. It’s an intimate view into his life as a ballplayer, announcer, and performer and dives into the folklore and history of the game. 

Jenifer McKim is working in public media and was recently promoted to editor of investigations and podcasts at GBH News in Boston. She’s bumped into several Wesleyan alums in recent travels—people doing mission-driven work—and remains always proud of the connection.

Cynthia Hall has been living outside Worcester, Massachusetts, for 10 years with her twin boys, Allo and Ozzy, who just turned 18. She moved to Massachusetts from Venice, California, and says that the opportunity to work at University of Massachusetts Medical School is worth enduring the cold New England winters. Spring may have been “crazy with graduation and applying to colleges,” but brought great results: Allo is starting at University of Massachusetts at Amherst in civil engineering; Ozzy will join the pre-pharmacy program part time at Quinsigamond Community College. Cynthia likes to take the opportunity to warm up by visiting Los Angeles annually and plans to meet up with Adam Sigel ’91, Janet O’Shea ’90, and Jason Matzner ’92. She recently caught up with Lisa Bender and Andy Ruskin ’87 in Washington, D.C., and says everyone is well . . . and sandwiched between aging parents and raising teenagers!

A good number of us are overseas.  In the “travel abroad” division:

Benjamin Junge is enjoying a “glorious” writing fellowship in São Paulo, Brazil, for the rest of 2025. When he’s on this side of the equator, he teaches anthropology at SUNY New Paltz and conducts research on citizenship and democracy in Brazil.

Andrew Goldman, a professor of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, is very honored to have been selected as the professor-in-charge of the Intercollegiate Center of Classical Studies (ICCS, or The Centro) in Rome and will lead a faculty team in 2025–26 to instruct undergraduates on the archaeology and history of ancient Rome and Italy. This is his third time at the program, first as an undergraduate in spring 1987, and then as a junior instructor in 1999–2000. Now he hopes to give his students the same amazing experience that he had almost 40 years ago. Andrew also joins the published list; his book, Ancient Cities, co-authored with friend and colleague Charles Gates, was issued by Routledge last year. This new third edition showcases his expertise on Roman archaeology and will be translated into Turkish later this year. Life in Spokane and at Gonzaga has been quiet and largely fulfilling. Andrew and his wife, Amy, had a wonderful time in early June visiting Boston and catching up with old friends, staying with Holly Campbell Ambler ’87 and her husband, David, as well as a long, tasty vegan lunch with Hillary Ross ’88.

An update from Stephen Morison Jr., who you may remember moved to Marrakesh, Morocco, last summer. First, on the day he wrote, it was 100 degrees and climbing (whoo!). He’s had a terrific first year as head of the American School of Marrakesh, a K–12 school with a rich history in the region. His partner, Emily Allen, also works for the school, and their daughter is earning a master’s in architecture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Stephen and Emily get to see Paul Gosselin in Paris frequently, and they keep in contact with Wendy Blum ’87, Steve Kullback ’89, and Nancy Nachbar ’89. “I feel lucky to have been able to maintain these great friendships. In fact, Paul and I log onto the internet every Sunday and do a calisthenics workout together, continuing a tradition that began in college, then was revitalized during the COVID years.”  [Editor’s note: anyone our age who can still do calisthenics in 100-degree weather should publish the secret.]

If I may take the liberty to add my own contribution: I lost my father in April 2025. He was 104, a veteran of World War II, and thank heavens, lucid and able to the very end. In his lifetime he traveled to 164 countries on every continent. His granddaughter, my daughter Aubrey, starts college this fall at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, studying fashion design. She will be just three and a half miles from where her grandfather was born, in 1921, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one week into the Harding administration. Full circle.

Thanks for sharing your news and please keep it coming. 

!

We are deep into the celebration season of 60! Happy birthday to all! Eric Leifer wrote to say that when he reflects upon those of us turning 60 this year, he thinks that we are the lucky ones. Salud!

Trish McGovern Dorsey shared news from a big Wesleyan gathering. She says, “We had a total of 19 people in Nashville over a holiday weekend, including our significant others. We sampled musical venues on Broadway (of course), saw some minor league baseball, took group line dancing lessons, exchanged joke T-shirts and books, and visited many of the city’s great museums. Most importantly, we picked up right where we left off the last time we were all together. It was special beyond words. Grateful to this group for the past, present, and future!” The group, photo below, included Trish, John Dorsey, Holly Campbell Ambler, Debbie Martin Gould, Chris Gould, David Igler ’88, Cindy Willard Igler ’88, Sue Romeo Malestein, David Glotzer, David Witkin, David Josephs, Dennis Mahoney, and Doug Koplow.

Ian Rosen has moved from his sustainability business to a pharmaceutical start-up, IntraBio, focused on treatments for neurodegenerative disease. Their flagship product received FDA approval for neurological manifestations of an ultra-rare disease; they are looking for European approval. They are busy with other applications to the FDA and Phase 3 clinical trials for other treatments. Ian’s eldest daughter, Isabel ’24, is working as a paralegal for an immigration firm representing asylum seekers, and he couldn’t be prouder. His youngest daughter is entering her senior year of high school and starting the university process. His wife continues her many business activities. All good!

After more than 20 years at CUNY, Rebecca Bratspies will be moving from the Big Apple to the Big Easy, leaving NYC and joining the faculty of Tulane Law School. She is the first holder of the Oliver Houck Endowed Chair of Environmental Law. She’d love to know if any Wes classmates are in NOLA.

Lisa Pavlovsky made some great class connections recently. She ran into Ron Fortgang at a Bay Area alum event and then joined his 60th birthday celebration on Zoom with Steve O’Neal. In April, Lisa met up with Elissa Wolf-Tinsman in Monterey. Elissa lives in Denver but was visiting her daughter in California where she teaches. They had a great few days catching up. In May, when Lisa was in NYC for her son’s college graduation, Vivian Trakinski gave Lisa’s family an amazing behind-the-scenes tour of the American Museum of Natural History, where she is director of science visualization. The Invisible Worlds exhibit she spearheaded is truly extraordinary.

Michael Bennet is currently serving as the senior senator from Colorado in Washington, but he is running for governor in Colorado in 2026, and many of our classmates are actively working for his election.

Muzzy Rosenblatt celebrated 25 years of leadership at Bowery Residents’ Committee—a nonprofit organization focused on helping those facing homelessness. At a BRC gala this summer, Michael Bennet was on hand to honor Muzzy. Those of us who knew Muzzy at Wesleyan thought he might be the NYC mayor eventually, and his work for BRC is right in line with our expectations. In August, BRC opened the Robert C. Wood Apartments, a housing development that honors Wesleyan professor Robert Wood, one of Muzzy’s key mentors. Who can forget Bob Wood, his government classes, and his wooden worry beads?

Anthony (“Tony”) Salerno was awarded the 2023 Ameriprise Client Experience Award, working in the financial services arena.

I have news of my own to share! I have recently earned my Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® designation. This is not a career change, but an addition to the editorial and project management work I do in educational publishing. Like many of you, I have been getting the crash course in aging as I help my mom, and I see how stressful the health, social, and financial issues challenges relating to getting older can be. So many people are unprepared for these challenges and are forced to make critical decisions in moments of crisis. I am looking forward to helping people thoughtfully anticipate, understand, and manage their options. Hopefully, our own aging challenges are decades away, but there is so much we can do now to be prepared!

Happy 60!