Maurice S. Newberg, 97, a sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry, died Sept. 12, 2017. Born in Middletown, he had a long history of participation in the community and in Wesleyan alumni activities. He founded the library of Judaica at Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown, and was a founding member of several groups there. Predecased by his wife, Beverly Ellsworth Cotteral Newberg, he is survived by many nieces and nephews, as well as a large extended family.
William D. Longaker, M.D., a psychiatrist, died Dec. 1, 2017, at age 97. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and received his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, he served in the U.S. Navy. He practiced psychiatry in Ithaca and Binghamton, N.Y. Survivors include five children, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, his brother, and his friend and former wife, Patricia Lane Longaker.
Curtis W. Smith, 100, a retired United Methodist minister, died Nov. 10, 2017. He was a member of Sigma Chi, received his degree with honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary, he began his career serving parishes in New England. In 1964 he moved with his family to the eastern shore of Maryland because he wanted to become more involved in the Civil Rights Movement. After retirement in 1985 they moved back to New Hampshire, where he remained active by filling in for other pastors in various roles. He retired completely at age 89. A lifelong pacifist, he always enjoyed working with youth. His wife, Rosemary Hirst Smith, predeceased him. Among those who survive are two daughters, one son, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
C. Knight Aldrich, M.D., a psychiatrist and author, died Nov. 3, 2017. He was 103. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with honors and with high distinction in psychology. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Sigma Xi. After receiving his medical degree from Northwestern University, he served in the U.S. Public Health Service during World War II. Following the war, he was a faculty member of the medical schools at the universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in 1955 became chairman of the newly formed Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He had an unwavering commitment to understanding mental health illness and to improving mental health care, particular in the community. An author of many articles and several books, he wrote about aspects of psychiatry as well as a book based on his great-grandfather’s Civil War letters. His wife, Julie Honore Aldrich, and two sons predeceased him. Survivors include a son; a daughter; eight grandchildren, including Adam B. Aldrich ’17; and three great-grandchildren.
“When I was at Wes, I was initially opposed to bringing kids onto this crazy planet. But then, at some point, I decided that the most radical thing I could do was to raise great kids—kids who would be part of making the world a better place. It turns out, I was prescient beyond my years. Now in my ‘back 50,’ I feel particularly good that I’ve made the world a better place by bringing three extraordinary humans onto the planet—now fascinating young adults whom my radical, feminist former self would have loved!” Does anyone agree with these sentiments of Elaine Taylor-Klaus?
“I’ve had a super year fighting against this dumpster fire of an administration. Participating in the resistance movement has been a source of joy and inspiration the likes of which I haven’t experienced in over 30 years of activism. Whether joining the crowd of 750,000 at the LA Women’s march, or rallying with 75 people at the Kauai ‘Show Us Your Taxes’ protest, I’ve been overwhelmed by the camaraderie, patriotism, and creativity on display. And it’s a great way to catch up with fellow Wes alumni!” And maybe some agree with these sentiments from Lisa Rosen.
Carlie Masters Williams: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for us here in Washington, DC. We thought politics couldn’t get any worse and lo! We were wrong. But the protests have been incredibly invigorating. I am excited to see people speaking out about the things that matter to them. The Women’s March was a sea of pink hats and women speaking loud enough to be heard across the country. We hosted seven southern women I know through work and it was a beautiful thing. We will continue to shout about facts and data and science until we can drown out the voices of ignorance. As for physical feats? My office did the 100 push-up challenge this summer. As a group I am proud to say we did literally HUNDREDS of push-ups and had a good time doing it. I bought everyone a jump rope as a prize at the end. That requires a whole ‘nother level of coordination so I am not sure we are going to be doing Double Dutch anytime soon.”
Lucy Seham Malatesta was sworn in as a CASA (court appointed special advocate) on September 11 in Newark. “In this volunteer position, I advocate for children who have been removed from their families and are ‘in the system.’ With access to school and medical records and the right to contact teachers, professional providers, and visit the child at his/her residence, I present my findings to the court quarterly to help determine the best next steps. ‘To be for the child’ is my response to the current state of our country and our world.”
Jeff Liss: “My wife Susan and I love living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since we became empty nesters (children number five and number six are now in college). I am currently between jobs, doing some independent consulting and also fulfilling one of my bucket list items as an adjunct professor, teaching digital marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I met up with Geoff Weinstein in San Diego during the summer. I also run into Dan Seltzer in the city every so often.”
Debbie Halperin: “While there is so much in the world that I don’t feel very good about, I also have a lot to be grateful for. I feel good about my family (celebrating 24 years of marriage this year to my husband Gil) and my kids who are in 11th and 12th grade. I feel good about the wonderful friendships I have formed over the years that sustain me, including those I met freshman year at Wes, Sarah Bosch, Nancy Cagan, Emily (Zaslow) Hourihan and Joanna (Feinberg) Miller. I feel good that my parents are healthy and close by. I feel good about relaunching my jewelry line, maycamehome.com after many years’ hiatus. Finally, over the summer we visited Tokyo for the first time and survived an emergency landing on the way home—so I feel good that those pilots were well trained!”
Tomas Mendez: “I’ve been in advertising for 50 years and it’s been pretty great. This year, for the first time ever, I’ve gone to the ‘client side.’ I’m at Dell EMC and really like it. It is so much less intense than the agency side. My wife Tracy (Juilliard ’96) came out of dancing retirement a couple of years ago and is so amazing—our son Daschle, 9, and I got back from seeing her perform about an hour ago (as I write this) and it was awesome. Over Labor Day we got together with Garth Battista ’85 and his wife Lilly in Maine. They sailed in on the boat Garth built himself and used my mooring near our family summer home on South Harpswell. At least 10 folks from ’86, ’87, ’88, and ’89 have been there so hopefully you guys are reading this. By you guys I mean Chris Gould ’87 (great chatting the other day!), Linnea Berg ’88, Mike Edson ’87, Bill Love, Mark Woodbury ’87, Lisa Bogan ’87, Anna Luhrman, Paul Sutherland ’85, Allegra Burton ’87, Michael Tomasson, and I’m sure a couple of others who my aging brain isn’t conjuring up. I stop at Wesleyan on the way up and back from Maine (live in New York) so I’ve been visiting Wesleyan twice a year for 30-plus years and for those who haven’t visited in a while, I highly recommend it. The place is insanely amazingly fancy and has so much more land, versus the lovely but humble physical plant and grounds we all experienced.”
Lydia Crawford learned to drive a manual as an adult (husband is British and he really wanted a manual transmission car, so she agreed to have him teach her—and they are still married!). “Our son Owen is happy as a sophomore at Lawrence University in Wisconsin (about a five-hour drive from Saint Paul where I have lived since finishing law school in Virginia) despite going through a college application and selection process that should not be emulated by anyone. Our 15-year-old daughter Vivian is willing to engage in fairly meaningful conversations with me somewhat frequently and has learned that rolling her eyes at her parents is not appreciated. I am able to keep pretty physically fit (despite back surgery last February), including going to a 6 a.m. workout class where I regularly see Beth Haney ’91. My husband and I adopted a stretch of state road in southern Minnesota (a Department of Transportation program) where we pick up trash periodically and now some friends are coming along to help. Who knew that picking up trash could be so social!”
A traveling summer for Ben Schneider: “Washington, D.C. for the National LGBT Resistance March and the Profession of Vows ceremony for the Washington D.C. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, home to Maine for the Yarmouth Clam Festival with Dan Kolbert and Greg Wildes. Then to Seattle to officiate at a wedding, my 15th time. Then Lithuania to teach meditation. And, finally the North Carolina Smokey Mountains as the keynote speaker at the annual Fall Gay Spirit Visions Conference. Bought a bike, walked away from a serious car accident, and went to a doctor for the first time in 20 years. Still see Melinda Newman and Lisa Rosen all the time, as well as Kevin Pratt ’87.”
Sam Atkinson is still umbilically attached to Boston. Peter Hammond and Mark Woodbury ’87 made their annual pilgrimage last weekend to join him for a mini-reunion. Sam sees Tom Matlack once a year at a big card game. He’s kept in touch with Tony Antonellis and Kevin Freund (his Clark 312 freshman roommates, along with Pete) and two close friends both from Cheltenham, Pa.: Paul Levitan ’85 and Margery Bank Bates ’87 (who is moving to Nantucket), but misses Liz Turner (“love you, Blue Lady!”) and “Chucker-V” Vuono.
Emily Hourihan: “Sorry, Wes. We are a Tulane family now (Avery ’14, Zoey ’15, and third daughter, Charlie ’21). Highlights: My 35-year-long friendships with Debbie Halperin and Laura Harrington. Seven wonderful years with husband, Todd Magazine. Boston Marathon in 2016, and, most recently, my first Ironman-70.3 in Atlantic City (6:37.13). Very proud of that one!”
Ellen Santistevan says: “If I am ‘halfway’ between graduation and retirement, I think I am way behind the curve. I spent most of the first ‘half’ odd-jobbing and raising my children. In the second half, now, I am learning to take care of myself, and studying to do things that I am really good at and enjoy. Deepening my studies and practice of craniosacral therapy is probably the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I will probably always be in service to others, whether to my family or my clients or the various causes that I care about, but discovering that it’s ok to say no and to have good boundaries has been life-changing. Sounds simple, perhaps even dumb, and yet…”
Samuel Connor is also feeling good. “Feeling particularly good about my decision in 2015 to start my own business (running a consulting group focusing on innovative cause marketing). The variety of work coupled with the immeasurable value of flexibility to be with my three teenage sons has been super.” Kate McIvor also made a career change. “After working in public health in Helena, Mont., for 25 years, I now own a fabric store in Missoula, Mont. Learning how to run a very small business has been a welcome challenge for me. And, my core purpose remains the same: to uplift and empower people to be healthy. How does a fabric store help people be healthy? By providing the tools and materials necessary to slow down and create for ourselves and others; and, by reducing the need and desire to buy cheap, fast fashion.”
Steven Cohen feels great about finally getting married last year! “I met Müge on eHarmony. Our first date was an architecture lecture on the Guastavinos, a father and son from Spain who created beautiful tile ceilings and domes all around New York. Müge’s mother had worked as an architect on the design of Lincoln Center and can trace her lineage back to a Sultan and a sect that migrated from Spain to Ottoman Empire during the Inquisition. I’m also finding out how hard it is to learn to speak Turkish!”
Sue (Erikson) Bidwell took advantage of “local summer” at the Jersey Shore, otherwise known as when the vacationers go home. “I’ve spent my bonus time painting the outside of the house, and that is what I feel particularly good about. It’s my Zen time to contemplate the world while actually accomplishing something. I’m blessed that I can take my laptop with me and still work remotely as the office support for my husband’s company while enjoying these other perks at the shore.”
Zahara Heckscher: “What I feel good about at this point in my life is having a son on the cusp of adulthood who is kind person, full of delight, and a husband who loves me despite my flaws. I had a long career doing nonprofit work but what I feel best about professionally are the books I’ve written and contributed to, including a little book of poetry I just published, and my father’s memoir about escaping the Nazis. Because of health challenges (breast cancer) my life has slowed down. I have a heart full of gratitude for the support of network around me including my sister and her family moved from Hawaii to be close to us. Life continues to be rich and meaningful. Life is good. I wish for classmates the ability to slow down and appreciate life, and focus more on what’s important—without having an illness that forces it!”
I think we can all agree to that.
Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu
Steven Ossad ’70, a historian and biographer, won the 2018 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award for Biography for his book Omar Nelson Bradley: America’s GI General. The book offers an account of Bradley’s formative years, his decorated career, and his postwar life. Ossad, who has focused his writing career on biography and command, under-studied heroes and battles, the lessons of failure, and considering applicable military leadership-training models for the C-suite, was recognized at an awards dinner during the society’s annual meeting. A philosophy major at Wesleyan, he earned graduate degrees from the New School and Harvard University.
Sunny Chyun ’02 is the winner of the 36th United Overseas Bank (UOB) Painting of the Year Award for her linen artwork titled. Dyspraxia. The UOB judges said, “[We] were impressed by the artwork’s details which consisted of various embroidered patterns created with a mix of threads, acrylic, oil and glow-in-the-dark paint.” She was honored at an awards ceremony in November. Chyun was a studio arts major at Wesleyan and earned an MFA from the Korean National University of Arts.
Jieho Lee ’95 is one of 22 business leaders under the age of 45 selected as a 2018 Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute. Established in 1997, the fellowship offers outstanding entrepreneurs an opportunity to harness their individual skills and creativity in developing solutions for some of society’s most vexing problems. “I am honored to be included in this driven and diverse group of innovators, and together with all the Crown Fellows, I look forward to finding new ways to effect profound, positive and enduring change,” said Lee, who co-founded Knighted Ventures in 2012. Lee, a film studies major at Wesleyan, holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
After graduation, Maddy Johl and Anna Lu moved to Brooklyn. Anna is working at Success Academies at Ditmas Park Middle School, as a fifth grade associate science teacher. She wrote, “I’m loving the classroom, but the scholar-athletes on my cross country team are also beasts. Wishing everyone else in the class of 2017 the best and hope senior year has been going well, ’18!”
Nisha Grewal spent this past month at her high school as a physics substitute, which has been a really fun learning experience. The opportunity has allowed her to use her physics degree and teach at the high school level. She always enjoyed teaching (and TA’d many classes at Wes), and this has certainly been her favorite summer job. In October, she started her official job as a technology consultant at IBM, and in the meantime she has enjoyed the exposure to a very different field.
Nicholas “Nicky” Antonellis, a BA/MA student in physics, was one of 14 students in the U.S. selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS).
Elizabeth Farrell is working at a tech company in NYC called Icreon Tech as the executive assistant to the CEO, and living in Bed-Stuy. She also took a grad trip to Costa Rica.
Annie Cooperstone is working as a financial consultant in Seattle. She enjoys math and the rain.
Susannah Clark is enjoying a year-long artistic fellowship at the Shakespeare theatre company in D.C.
Rachel Waugh began her master’s in food studies at Chatham University. She is incredibly excited about the program.
Ali Felman is completing a year-long teaching apprenticeship at The Park School in Brookline, Mass. Her current placement is in the upper division English department, where she experiences the joy and weirdness of the middle school thought process and emotional-moral development on a daily basis. Adorableness abounds!
Cindy Horng is enjoying life as a management consultant based in New York, and is always excited to connect with other Wes alums, both virtually and in the city.
Rit Chirathivat is working in e-commerce and omnichannel retail in Thailand.
Adam Mirkine had an awesome double-whammy experience at the end of August. It started off with a 10-day WWOOF, a farm stay through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, just north of Middlebury, Vt., at Golden Well Farm and Apiaries. He was lucky with the weather and had an unbelievable experience taking care of their animals, harvesting produce for the farm stand, making fresh jam, farm meals, and kombucha (he wasn’t a fan until he tried theirs, and dang it was good), meeting new people, and exploring the area. “Enjoyed some serious beginners luck WWOOFing and I can’t wait to do it again,” he said.
He then went on to volunteer at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF). It’s a three-day film festival that takes over the town of Middlebury at the end of August and features the amazing work of first- and second-time filmmakers from all walks of life and every corner of the world. MNFF attracts a swarm of Wes alumni, including the founder, Lloyd Komesar ’74, various attendees, and a handful of filmmakers. He got to hang out at a Wesleyan event with Sofia Taylor (whose film was screened at the festival), Maia Nelles-Sager, and Connie Des Marais. He highly recommends making the trip up next year and to submit films if you make them!
As for me, I’m living together in Denver with Sarah Lazarus, Wyatt Rees, Kate Suslovic, and Avery Kimmell. Come visit!
Keyonne Session | ksession@wesleyan.edu
After graduation, Rhys Langston Podell returned to Los Angeles, his hometown, and has spent his time painting, writing, and performing/recording music. His album Full Frontal Incumbent, an Incongruous Mixtape, was released last November and earned him the cover story of L.A. Record’s fall issue and an in-depth feature with LA Weekly. He is performing on both coasts, promoting his new album, Aggressively Ethnically Ambiguous. He remains the poet laureate of his living room.
Scarlett Harris is attending The George Washington University for an accelerated bachelor’s degree in nursing, and is pursuing her long-time career goal of becoming a nurse-midwife. She been working multiple jobs, including attending births with a home-birth midwife in California. She reflects, “I cannot help but appreciate my time at Wes and acknowledge how much my experiences and relationships there shaped the path that I’m currently on.”
After a year working in the healthcare industry, Mike Greenwald is now teaching calculus at the Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn. Since graduating, he competed in several marathons, including the Chicago and New York marathons. He writes, “I’ve carried the lessons that I have learned at Wesleyan both into the classroom and out on the roads: community, perseverance, and hard work are second-to-none companions when aiming towards success.”
Max Winter and Max Jones (also known as “Mad Maxes”) ran the Chicago Marathon on October 8th on behalf of the American Cancer Society. All donations went towards cancer research and treatment.
Mia Kolomatsky spent a year working as an English teacher in Madrid, Spain, and is now serving as an AmeriCorps member with City Year in Boston.
Glenn Cantave started a group called Movers & Shakers that uses virtual reality, augmented reality, and the creative arts to execute direct action and advocacy campaigns for marginalized communities. Their current campaign aims to remove Columbus-related imagery from public spaces, streets, and institutions. The group’s performance art piece at Columbus Circle had a $40 budget, and recordings of the performance received more than one million views online.
For a year, Madeline Keane worked at Prehype, a venture capital development firm and incubator. With the company she helped open a problem-based learning private elementary school called The Hudson Lab School in Westchester, N.Y. At the end of July, she left for Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, to play for a soccer club called Tindastóll. At the end of that season, Madeline signed with an Italian team and now plays for ASD Catania Calcio Femminile in Sicily.
Maria Massad has been enjoying her time in Chicago and celebrated her one-year anniversary working on the digital advertising side at Tribune Publishing for their Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, and San Diego Union-Tribune properties. She has done some freelance film production work for a local documentary company and volunteered to do e-mail copywriting for a gubernatorial candidate in Illinois. She enjoyed having Jessica Seidman ’15 in town for the summer and reuniting with Hope Kabel ’14 during the spring. She notes, “I’m just loving life!”
Tabitha Gillombardo started a new job as a strategist for a female and minority-owned consulting firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. She was featured as her high school’s September/October Alumna Spotlight. The interview can be accessed on her LinkedIn page.
After graduation, Samantha Hellberg started as the program coordinator for the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complicated Grief Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. A manuscript, based on the work she conducted at Wesleyan as part of her honors thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Mike J.F. Robinson, was accepted for publication in Behavioural Brain Research. She is applying to doctoral programs in clinical psychology in hopes of building upon her education at Wesleyan and MGH to further examine the mechanisms and treatment of anxiety and stress-related conditions.
Kobi Bordoley lives in NYC with fellow classmates Noah Gup and Gabe Lipton Galbraith. He works at the Civilian Complaint Review Board, investigating allegations of police misconduct with Gabbie Carpenter and Rachel Ellman ’15. Surprising no one, he and Miranda Haymon continue to plot daily. He is seeking more endorsements for “Opening Jars” and “Augury” on LinkedIn and notes, “Don’t be a stranger and please stop by!”
Tim Israel recounts a fond memory—hitting a home run in an intramural softball game, and then going to Taco Bell to celebrate.
Ellen Paik | epaik@wesleyan.edu
