John Binswanger writes, “All is well. Doing a little traveling.” John planned to spend time in Florida in January and February visiting family. “Disappointed with the election but willing to wait and see.” He works out “three or four days a week when weather permits. Hope to make the next reunion. Best to everyone for the new year.”
Martin Feins says, “Now living in Naples, Florida, full time. Lost my wife five years ago and remarried to a lovely woman from the UK about two years ago. Would love to get together with any ’54er in my area or any Wes guy from my era.” Marty can be reached at martinfeins@gmail.com.
Bud Johnson and his wife, Lynn, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in February. “We are thankful to have been blessed with years to watch our grandkids start their families. A year ago, we moved into The Osborn, a senior living campus in Rye, New York. Down south, we still have a seasonal home in Florida to avoid ice and snow.” Bud is an active senior advisor on the American Security Council Foundation Board. His several years as a naval plane commander— involved in Formosa, South China Sea surveillance—is helpful in defining ASCF’s Peace through Strength Mission in the Far East. Bud says he’s a “very lucky boy!!!”
Dan Resnick has stepped away from his role as your class secretary. We thank Dan very much for his work connecting you with each other. If you’d like to become the new class scribe or have any news to share for the next issue of Class Notes, please write to classnotes@wesleyan.edu.
Melvin Katz, 92, of Westport, Connecticut, passed away March 17, 2024. He was a child of immigrants and grew up in Brooklyn. After graduating with our class, he attended Harvard Law School. During an active legal career, he became a dean of the New York Securities Bar. He enjoyed other activities including classical music, the New York Giants, and wintertime skiing. Mel is survived by his wife of 56 years, Judy, children, Jonathan Katz ’92 and Melissa Kane, and her husband, Jon, and his two grandchildren, George Kane and Lily Kane.
Gerald Patrick moved into a retirement community in January. His friend will continue to visit as she has for 15 years. A grandson, Mike (son of his daughter, Elaine ’79), recently was married. Jerry keeps occupied with duplicate bridge, writing stories, and building ship models.
Stephen Friedland retired in 2020 from pediatric practice. Life went smoothly until Anne developed undiagnosed leg problems. Healthwise, they have been pretty stable for the most part. Anne gets to her needlepoint meetings, and Steve is a docent at the FDR museum. Their daughters live in the area; their son and family live in Washington State. A June marriage of a grandson provided for a great family reunion.
Richard Levinson reports he is working every day with his old law firm.
Jerry Zackin writes Sandy had a second knee replacement. They spend seven to eight months in Florida and the rest in Yarmouth. Golf four or five days a week. They have a full schedule of events—theater and music.
Glad for the two late reports—keep the news coming, anytime.
Chuck Exley shares: “Hello! I recently celebrated my 95th birthday surrounded by friends and family. I moved to Naples, Florida, earlier this year from Sarasota. I am attaching a recent photo from one of the endless, sunny Florida days—out for a visit to a botanical garden with my daughter, Eve. I am not driving cars any longer but love to zoom around in these scooters whenever I can! Sending my best to my classmates.”
Chuck Exley and daughter, Eve
I wish everyone the best in this new year. And, please, send news.
Cliff Milner writes: “At 96, here is all my news! I’m alive after a siege with pneumonia, one week in hospital, and two weeks in nursing home. I’m now at home with lots of caregivers here almost every day! I’m looking forward to feeling 95 again!
“My five children have blessed me with 20 grandchildren. I have a one-year-old great- grandson and am told to expect another one next year! Unfortunately, many of these kids are scattered all over the place, so don’t see them as much I would like! My wife passed away 10 years ago, but I still live in the house we bought in 1958. My youngest son, Andy, lives with me, and yesterday we had the pleasure of watching the Bills defeat the Detroit team—a very exciting game.
“I retired as a research chemist, more exactly, a product development chemist in 1990, so I’ve been retired as long as I worked!! Obviously, I’d like to squeak in a few more retired years, or am I being too greedy?
My name is Miles Allen, and I’m reaching out as your Wesleyan class secretary. Though our time on campus was temporary, the memories are forever . . . and for me, the position of class secretary is also forever. Essentially, three times a year—coinciding with each issue of Wesleyan University Magazine—I will be reaching out to solicit personal and professional updates to be shared in the Class Notes section of the magazine: https://classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/. This is a wonderful space for memories, family news, travel experiences, mini-reunions, and more—a way to stay connected throughout the next chapters of our lives.
As recent graduates, our news isn’t included in this Fall 2024 Issue, but I will be reaching out soon about how you can share for the next, Spring 2025 Issue. Until then, I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying our postgrad fall!
Hi Cardinals. This is your new class secretary, Arthur Chen. Here are some exciting updates from your dear classmates:
Aldrean Alogon writes: “I want to say ‘hi’ to everybody in our class. Ashley Tuen and I are rooming together in the big city, and we miss the Class of 2023 so much. It’s nice that Wes built very strong connections, and we still hang out very frequently with our college besties. Can’t wait to see everybody sometime soon!”
From Aidan Jones: “I recently joined my thesis lab, as I started my second year as a Columbia University PhD student.”
From Elizabeth Rowe: “I spent the last year teaching English in Madrid, Spain. Now I am starting law school back in my hometown at UT Austin. Hook ’em!”
From Kelly Fenton-Samuels: “After graduating with BA degrees in chemistry and earth and environmental sciences, I stayed at Wesleyan for an additional year to complete an MA degree in earth and environmental sciences. My master’s thesis focused on ice, ocean, and climate interactions in Antarctica during the Plio-Pleistocene Transition, approximately 2.6 million years ago. This period marked the transformation from a world warmer than today to one with continental-scale ice sheets in both hemispheres. I am continuing this research within a PhD program at Columbia University and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, furthering my passion for exploring Earth’s natural laboratory and enhancing scientific understanding of climate change.” So exciting to learn about Kelly’s research; not going to lie, that sounds pretty cool (pun unintended!).
And from the very first friend that I made at Wesleyan, Quentin Rollet writes: “I just spent one year in Los Angeles working on several film sets and at a production company called Iconoclast. I even got to make my own short film. In the process, I realized that my Wesleyan film thesis was a piece of cake compared to the ruthless Hollywood money machine. Although I didn’t like the city that much, I met a lot of cool people there. “I also got to travel a lot recently—finally put my three years of Japanese to practice in Japan—and followed the filmmaker Wong Kar Wai’s footsteps in Hong Kong, where I met other Wes alumni. Now I’ll settle back in Paris and probably make more movies. Let me know if you’re visiting!” Visiting Quentin in Paris last summer, I can vouch that he will feed you a lot and different kinds of cheese every day!
Lastly, from me (Arthur): I am currently on a working holiday in Australia. Originally, I planned to find work in farming or hospitality to experience different jobs and meet new people, but I ended up as a research assistant at the University of Melbourne, which was quite unexpected—just like how unpredictable life can be after graduating! But I become more comfortable with embracing precarity now. Being on a college campus again reminds me of my time at Wesleyan, so whenever I work on student film sets, I wear my Wesleyan “Dad” hat to show my Cardinal pride. Haha!
Thank you “heaps” for reading our class notes! Please send me updates throughout the year to share with our classmates. I can be reached at achen03@wesleyan.edu. Topics can range from personal and professional updates, memories, family news, traveling, mini-reunions, and more! It doesn’t have to be long, even a sentence or two will do. Feel free to provide photos too. Cheers! (I realized Australians don’t really say this….)
This is a crew photo from a single-take, 30-minute short film that Arthur (second from left in the back row, wearing his Wesleyan hat) worked on. “It was kind of disastrous—as you may see from my face—but we had fun.”
Hi everyone! I hope you had a lovely summer no matter where you are. Here are some updates from the Class of 2021:
Gayon Yang recently moved to Chiang Rai, Thailand, to pursue her passion as a fifth-grade teacher at Chiang Rai International School. Gayon wrote, “Life is good here!” Congratulations to Gayon for starting a new chapter of life.
Costel-Tudor Voica was an international student from Moldova at Wesleyan. He is currently back in his home country. Costel’s American friend and housemate, Jonah Skolnik, visited Costel in the city he grew up in, Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
Costel was invited by the Moldovan branch of EducationUSA, a U.S. Department of State network of international student advising centers, to give a presentation to high school students about Wesleyan. Costel invited Jonah to present as a duo.
Jonah Skolnik (on left) and Costel-Tudor Voica (on right) presented as a duo to high school students in Chisinau, Moldova, about their Wesleyan experience.
Costel wrote, “It was so much fun, it was a very natural, almost podcast-like conversation about Wesleyan, and everyone loved it. The Moldovan high schoolers had the unique opportunity to get a taste of Wesleyan and studying in the U.S. through the lens of an American and a Moldovan international alumnus. And Jonah had the chance to enjoy the places and food I’ve been telling him about during our time in college.”
Zoe Farnsworth is now a choreographer and organizer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Zoe had their local premiere of The Meaning of Where I’m From in September, their first public premiere of a dance show. Zoe explores their “trans”-generational Ashkenazi Jewish identity in a “solo” dance/theater performance through themes of family, ancestry, death, and ritual. They invite you into their composting process to dig, layer, and breathe new life into a complex past. What do you need to transform? Zoe can be reached by zoe.compostabledance@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me updates throughout the year and look out for new submission requests. See you next time!
From Grant Hill: “I have been traveling for most of 2024, after wrapping up a four-year career in the cannabis industry while living in Portland, Maine. After a countrywide travel stint ranging from North Carolina to San Francisco, and a dip down to Costa Rica, I will be moving to Asheville, North Carolina, to pursue career growth in business development and digital marketing and further grow my photography business. If you are in the area, feel free to reach out via my cell at (203) 895–2391!”
From Nicholas Ticali: “I am currently in my final year of PA school, rotating in family medicine while also serving as student society president. I also just had my closing performance as Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages the musical, which was ‘nothin’ but a good time!’ I hope all of you 2020 grads are getting ready for fifth-year reunion!!”
From Kush Patel: “I’m working as a dermatology physician assistant in a private practice called Schweiger Dermatology Group located in Connecticut. I’m looking forward to a fulfilling career in the outpatient world caring for my patients’ skin concerns!”
From Luke Green: “I’ve been working as a producer at WNYC in New York for over three years now. What’s new is I just got a promotion over the summer, which is exciting! In September, we will air a special WNYC centennial broadcast about the history of New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia. I was the lead producer of the show and was working on it for the last six months, so it’s gratifying for people to finally be able to hear it!”
Gabrielle “Gabe” Hurlock, founder of Tribe Arts Consulting LLC, continues to bridge arts, social equity, and education through her work in metro Atlanta. Her company partners with nonprofits and government agencies to provide creative solutions for high-risk communities. Gabe remains committed to driving transformative change through innovative arts programming and consulting.
Hannah Reale (credit Barbara McCrane)
Congratulations are in order for Hannah Reale who was named was named a 2024–2025 Becton Fellow by Boston public media producer GBH. The Becton Fellowship honors promising GBH producers and content creators whose work reflects the organization’s commitment to public service. Congrats, Hannah!
Thanks all for submitting your updates, as always it is so great to hear from y’all!
These days I am soaking up the last of the Chicago summer sun. This fall, I spend all the time I can in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, supporting my mom, Susie Greenberg, and her campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives District 53. Susie’s campaign is based on reproductive freedom, community safety, and economic prosperity in our Atlanta-area community and across Georgia. I am so grateful for all the Wesleyan community support Susie received from the Wesleyan community!
