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Many in the Class of 2008 celebrated their 40th birthday this year! Many classmates shared updates for the first time ever, and it’s been incredible to see what these amazing humans have accomplished!

Maya Bass was promoted to vice-chair for education. Her residency program has a 100% Board pass rate, and she successfully opened two family medicine offices in Camden, New Jersey, offering full-spectrum family and reproductive care for an urban, underserved community. Equally challenging, she successfully potty-trained a toddler!

Elissa Kozlov writes, “I turned 40 this year and celebrated with a raging birthday party that included many dear Wes friends. I am currently living in New Jersey with my two kids, scruffy dog, and husband, and I am a professor and clinical psychologist at Rutgers University. Wildly, I returned to the stage this year for the first time since leaving Wesleyan, to produce and perform in a variety show called Your Mom, where performers are invited to sing a song, tell a story, or do stand-up comedy about their mom; after which, I came on stage as ‘Dr. Elissa’ to do live therapy with the performers about their set. The show raised over $1,500 for the Loveland Foundation. Follow @YourMomSOMA on Instagram for info about future shows!”

Janie Stolar’s Instagram post about the Knicks received 2.7M views, 120K likes, and 60K reposts/shares in one week. In this moment when we are all fed up with the algorithm polarizing us and AI destroying our psyches, Janie is proud of this reminder that Instagram is extremely important.

Aniela Kuzon married Vaibhav Sahai in an intimate ceremony in the mountains of Southern California, followed by a vibrant wedding celebration in Chandigarh, India. They are happily blending their roots in Michigan, while spreading their wings across the world.

Sam Barcelo got married in May 2025 and bought their first home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they live with their two cats!

Brooke Richart hosted Chayanne Ubol Chinthrajah (New Jersey), Argenys Taveras (Puerto Rico), and Justin Douglas (California) in Cincinnati in May to collectively celebrate their 40th birthdays. The festivities included boat rides, baseball games, matching T-shirts, embarrassing airport pickups, fancy (but affordable) dinners, and comparing new health ailments. Argenys was delighted to learn that Ohio is not one giant cornfield. Mostly they acted like seniors on Fountain Ave and sat outside talking trash. Honorable mention goes to Alex Mumbauer (South Africa), who FaceTimed in for over an hour. Brooke’s looking forward to making them do the same thing for our 45th!

Donn Perez-Ogilvie writes, “Life after Wesleyan has taken me from New York City to stints living in Sweden and Singapore, and now Los Angeles, where I hunkered down in 2022. I married my husband, Marcos, in 2024, and our Havenese, Domino, runs the house. Professionally, I’ve been in fintech for 11 years and currently am the head of product at First Entertainment Credit Union, serving folks in the creative economy. I celebrated 40 earlier this year in NYC, with solid Wes representation; from what I can remember, we all had a good time.”

Ruby Corbyn-Ross is happy to report that after two years of graduate school at UVA, she is now moving back to New Orleans to complete her final internship to become a speech language pathologist, specializing in voice and upper-airway disorders. She’s also excited to return to singing with Annalisa Kelly and nine other folks in the Eastern European vocal ensemble Trendafilka and spending time with other Wes buddies in New Orleans.

Stephanie O’Brien wrote, “It’s a year of transitions for my family. We welcomed our second child in April, I became an independently licensed social worker, and we’re relocating to Northampton, Massachusetts, to be closer to family. We’re eager to build community—please reach out if you’re in the area!”

Tory Whitney lives in Needham, Massachusetts, with her three little boys, husband, and dog. This year she started a new role as head of litigation for Hasbro, a job she and her kids love.

Danielle Klimashousky and her husband, Matt Barnish, welcomed their son, Miles, in March 2026! Danielle also had a mini-reunion this summer for a belated 40th-birthday group celebration in Philadelphia with Julia Kessler-Torres, Becky (Ehrlich) Freiman, and Nick Russell,and they’re planning another hangout with all their kids this fall.

Alpay Koralturk just had his second kid in May, this time a daughter, Gemma. He hosted Tom Volgenau, Norman Azoulay, and their families for their annual summer get-together. There were “seven kids, age six and under—always a great time!”

Susannah Lake joined St. Louis–based Kennedy Hunt, PC as a civil rights attorney, after more than a decade in nonprofit civil rights litigation—including roles at ACLU of Washington (with Wes alums!) and the MacArthur Justice Center. “The move was made possible when the Department of Education shockingly (and mercifully) forgave all of my law school loans via PSLF! The firm was founded by fellow Wesleyan alum, Tom Kennedy ’67. We met a decade ago and instantly bonded over alma mater (despite Wes being all-male in his day), a shared love of vintage turquoise jewelry, and a relentless dedication to holding bigots accountable through civil rights litigation. Joining the firm has been a true homecoming—complete with the occasional spontaneous singing of the Wesleyan fight song! I keep up with Wes friends—Justin Holzwarth and I hang out at least annually back home in Atlanta. We also travel with Laura Silver and Janie Stolar. Please say ‘hi’ if you are ever in St. Louis!”

Nathan Strand was a casualty of the dismantling of USAID in 2025, cutting short his 10-year career in the foreign service. After some time off, he was fortunate to land a new role overseeing grants management at an agricultural nonprofit (though too many former USAID workers still remain on the job hunt). In more auspicious news, he and his wife welcomed their first child this summer. They are excited for new beginnings as they settle into family life in Washington, DC.

Mariana Foos read too many adventure books about sailing and went a little crazy trying to figure out the difference between clewing, reefing, and furling. “Next thing I knew I was sailing down the Sound of Mull in the west of Scotland, eating Tunnock’s Tea Cakes and looking for seals. I’m still not 100% clear on clewing, but I think I’m going to keep sailing.”

Cory Satow writes, “In April, I met up with Marcia Whitehead and Adrienne Shea at a campaign event for Ryan McLaren, who ran for lieutenant governor of Vermont. Ryan, has been in Vermont politics ever since leaving Wes.”

Keera Bhandari writes,“Hello everyone! It has been difficult to find the right way to write about and honor our dear friend Casey Dell Otto who passed away in November 2024; best I can do is share how close his community of friends has remained. In fact, our little crew consisting of Lex Edness, Jamie Hiteshew, Kai Sionas (formerly Johnson), Jo Brownson, and Jettie Word have stayed in close touch with Casey’s family, and we recently all gathered with them in LA, at Casey’s old house, to share stories about our guy.

“The seven of us have remained best friends all these years later—Kai, Lex, Casey, and myself living in LA, and Jettie, Jamie, and Jo settled in the Bay. Before we all lived in California, we still managed to get together at least twice a year. I continue to be filled with gratitude to Wesleyan for these friendships that have sustained my life.

“As for Casey, we always joked that he had more friends than any of us even knew. He loved living in LA, and he had a massive community of dear friends here. He passed away the day before Thanksgiving in the same hospital he was born in, in Chicago. Fourteen people dropped everything to fly to his bedside to say goodbye. The generosity of spirit that his family has shown, and continues to show, has been remarkable. The hospital staff broke the rules that day to let us all be there; some of them came up to us later and shared they’d never seen an outpouring like that for someone. Casey’s funeral was like a well-attended, all-day party, except the kind where everyone bursts into tears at random intervals. It was beautiful. He was immensely loved and so important to so many people. His passing has left a hole in our lives that we are learning to live with.

“I’ve been in LA for seven years now, working as a physician associate in pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital LA. Rebecca Gitlin and I are living a happy life together in the Valley, and we often throw gatherings where a majority of the attendees have some connection to Wesleyan. If you’re in the area and we haven’t yet, I’d love to connect with you! And if anyone wants to talk about Casey, I know anyone named here would be happy to share stories.”

Nic Benecerraf shared, “Big life things! I just moved from NYC to LA to start a new job as assistant professor of theater at Pomona College. My partner and I are expecting a baby soon, and I expect to defend my dissertation this fall—in theater and performance at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Ben Smyser was elevated to partner at the law firm of Finn Dixon & Herling, LLP.

Big life things! I just moved from NYC to LA to start a new job as Assistant Professor of Pomona And your co-secretary Amanda said: “First time writing an update! Shortly after Wes, I moved to LA (Asli Sonceley and Tara Moore let me sleep on their couch!) and have pursued working as a TV producer. I worked at a talent agency with Wes alums who supported my professional development: David Stone ’04, Anna DeRoy ’87, and Matt Solo ’82. I worked at Netflix in international original series on shows like Dark, Club de Cuervos, and more, and now I work with Wes alum, Toby Emmerich ’85.