John Gardner ’74, provost at Avon Old Farms School, completed his 33rd season as varsity hockey coach, with a 27–1 overall record, a Founders’ League title, and an unparalleled seventh New England Prep Division I championship. Additionally, he reached a 600-win total in his coaching career before March. “I really like what I do. It’s a very rewarding profession; it keeps you young,” he said of his career as a private-school teacher, coach, and administrator, when interviewed on the Hartford FOX network affiliate. He also focused on the team: “We’ve had a lot of really outstanding players come to Avon and I’ve just been fortunate enough to work with those guys.”
F. Kennedy Gordon ’83, MD, was included in the May 2008 Black Enterprise listing of “America’s Leading Physicians.” This is the second time he has garnered this honor. Additionally, he was named one of the Top 25 Black Doctors in the tri-state area by the Network Journal magazine in 2002, 2003, and 2005–08. One of the few sports medicine specialists using acupuncture, he is board certified in sports medicine and internal medicine, as well as a certified MD acupuncturist in New York and New Jersey. He was a staff physician at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., during the summer of 2000. He is the medical director for the New Jersey division of USA Taekwondo and medical consultant for their national events. At Wesleyan, he majored in biology and psychology.
Christopher Graves ’81 was named Public Relations Professional of the Year for Asia Pacific. He is Asia-Pacific president/CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, which swept the awards, picking up 23 honors and half of all the possible “Campaign for the Year’ top awards. An English major at Wesleyan, he had been in the news business for 23 years before joining Ogilvy three years ago. Prior to that, he was with Dow Jones for 18 years, serving as part of the founding team of The Wall Street Journal Report, as well as founding managing editor of Asia’s first TV news network and as head of news for both CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia.
Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 received one of only six 2007 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards. The foundation selects women who demonstrate excellence and promise at the beginning of their writing careers. Ekiss, whose poems have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly, is finishing her first book of poetry, The Mansion of Happiness.
Two alumni received promotions at The Hartford Courant: Barbara T. Roessner ’75, formerly deputy managing editor, is now managing editor. Dan Haar ’81, the business and economics columnist, was named business editor. At Wesleyan, Roessner was a classics major and Haar majored in government.
Eleo Hensleigh ’80 joined ION Media Networks as chief marketing officer, leaving Disney-ABC and her tenure overseeing the television and cable groups’ marketing and branding functions. Hensleigh has also served as a member of the Lifetime Television Board of Directors and has been inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. At Wesleyan, she majored in psychology.
Kim Stolz ’05 was one of the top 12 contestants chosen to compete in season five of America’s Next Top Model, hosted by Tyra Banks on UPN. Stolz, who in an opening interview had said that she hoped her education would give her a strategic edge, won a prize in one of the weekly competitions: a cameo role on Veronica Mars. Stolz played a car-rental agency employee whose by-the-book boss was played by Joss Whedon ’87. A government major as an undergraduate, Stolz wrote a thesis comparing the U.S. exit strategies in several recent interventions.
Thomas L. Greaney ’70 is the 2007 recipient of the Jay Healey Health Law Teachers Award. A CSS major at Wesleyan, Greaney was a Fulbright Scholar before attending Harvard Law School. After working as an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department, Greaney joined the faculty of Saint Louis University in 1987 and is currently their Chester A. Myers Professor of Law and the co-director of the University’s Center for Health Law Studies.
Matthew Glaser ’87 joined Turner Investment Partners as director of alternative strategies on the investments team. Previously, he was the co-founder of Granite Hill Partners LLC, an alternative investment fund agent. He also served as head of institutional equity sales for Susquehanna International Group. A history major at Wesleyan, he earned his MBA from Columbia University.
Matt Kushner ’03 earned a screening for his animated music video of indie singer Justin Catalino’s “When the Sky Is Falling,” at the 11th Annual LA Shorts Fest. The piece, which he animated, directed, and produced, served as his thesis for his master’s degree from New York University’s Center for Advanced Digital Applications. Initially, it had won in the online competition, Famecast, which sent it to the Shorts Fest. At Wesleyan, Kushner majored in film studies, with a focus on computer animation. To view Kushner’s work, see www.mattkushner.com.
