CLASS OF 1984 | 2026 | FALL ISSUE

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Hello, Classmates,

Here I am, retired, typing at my leisure, on a rainy and humid day in southeastern Pennsylvania. I just got back from a driving tour of the Midwest and am catching up on all your correspondence.

Rhonda Lees, a fellow Alpha Delt, lets us know that she is still working in the Office of the General Counsel at the American Bankers Association in DC. As a volunteer, she is involved with the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, addressing issues like the rule of law and anti-Semitism. The work is “terrific,” she says, and keeps her busy. She is happy to be in touch with Jessica Seigel, Michael Heydenburg, Randy Frisch, and Dan Schlein; and she sees Michael Feldman, Diane Holt ’86, Lisa Nevans Locke ’85, Maral Kibarian Skelsey, and Michael Mendelson ’85 occasionally in the DC area.

Speaking of Maral Kibarian Skelsey, she has been named to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology. Maral has a private practice in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and is a clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University. She has served as the president of the Washington DC Dermatological Society and vice president of the DC Clinicopathological Society.

Andrew Bridge celebrates the 20th anniversary of the New Village Girls Academy in Los Angeles, a high school for pregnant and parenting teens that he cofounded. He has just published his second book, The Child Catcher, a national bestseller based on his first lawsuit representing children in Alabama psychiatric hospitals. This was a follow-up to his first book, Hope’s Boy.

Mark Randles reports on his 25th–annual summer baseball trip with a gang of Wes alums, including Michael Bailit, Jim Glickman, Bill Barry, Jeff Sporn, and Buffy Martin Brouckman. Melany Kahn ’86 also joined the festivities this time around. This year, the trip was to Baltimore during Fleet Week (and they are eyeing Dallas for next year).

Paul Landau writes from a changing juxtaposition in academia. Paul is in the history department of the University of Maryland and well accomplished, but, as any of us who were young and now are not so young, he reflects on his journey from being a “maverick or chance taker, challenging intellectual authority” to being in a position to evaluate peers and sit on all sorts of committees.

He enumerates that he is: a) at the top of his career (full professor, well-known in his field, book awards, etc.); b) producing work; and c) doubting his own future value like never before.

He is facing huge changes, including facing declining enrollments in the history department, and reflecting on how college students are operating in the world regarding research, writing, and AI. He fears he is becoming the “old gatekeeper.” Through it all, his family of four (plus two dogs) is the center of things.

Molly (Willey) Tierney left her school administration stint when she had custody of her grandson, who turned one in her care. Now that he is back with his mom (Molly’s daughter), she’s visiting them in Virginia Beach several times a year. At home in Santa Cruz, California, she is teaching Zumba classes, baking sourdough bread, tending her garden, and participating in local activist events.

Stephanie Fleischmann says that she was hugely honored to have received a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship in drama and performance art for her work as an opera librettist. Her work, In a Grove, was recognized as one of The New York Times“Best Classical Performances of 2025;” The Silver Cypress received a 2026 OPERA America commissioning grant; Claude & Marcel had an orchestral preview at San Francisco MOMA in August; and in 2027 she’ll have operas premiering in LA, Houston, and San Francisco.

That’s it for now. Best wishes to you all as we navigate new chapters.

MICHAEL STEVEN SCHULTZ | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu