Tag: 1993

Hi, Wes friends. We have some exciting updates this issue—new jobs, empty nests, documentary premieres, and other updates. As always, we appreciate hearing from you, so please keep sharing updates! 

Julie Anderson writes, “I am in the process of transitioning to a new job as head of school of Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut. Rectory is a junior boarding and day school serving students from pre-K to ninth grade. My husband and I recently purchased a home in Maine, where we look forward to spending time during vacations. My oldest child is a recent graduate of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and works for a nonprofit that supports employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. My youngest will be a junior at Hampshire College, where he is engaged in theater and gender studies.” 

Shana Ciociola Boniface emails, “I’m still in Montclair, New Jersey, a town so filled with Wes alumni that there are three of us on my block, all in vastly different graduating years, but still, what are the chances?! In other Wesleyan-related news, my older daughter will be attending Wesleyan in the fall as a recruited rower! We are so thrilled for her!” 

Jacob Bricca writes, “I’m happy to report that two documentaries that I worked on recently made their premieres. I was at the world premiere of The Chaplain and the Doctor, which I edited, at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April, and was thrilled to collaborate with Ted Reichman ’95 on the music for the film. The doc is about two extraordinary women trying to fix a broken health care system in Oakland, California. I also celebrated the release of Marriage Cops, which I co-edited, at the HotDocs International Documentary Film Festival in May. It’s a cinema verité account of a group of female police officers deputized to provide marriage counseling in northern India. Each will be released to the general public later this year.”

Dave Davis provides an update: “Greetings from sunny Manhattan Beach, California! Lynne and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We have two amazing daughters—our eldest is heading into her senior year at UC Berkeley, and our youngest will begin her college journey at Vanderbilt this fall. With both girls off to school, we’ll soon be empty nesters! On the professional side, I co-founded a start-up in 2023 called Calliope Networks. We focused on licensing audiovisual works to generative AI companies for model training. Late last year, we were acquired by a larger start-up called Protege. I now lead Protege’s content licensing division, and I’m happy to report it’s been a great ride so far.”

Jodi Samuels writes, “My spouse, Evan, and I are now splitting our time between our townhouse in Sacramento, California, and an apartment in downtown Evanston, Illinois (just a few blocks from the Northwestern campus), so that we can be closer to his family in the Chicago area. Our two kitties are gradually getting adjusted to flying back and forth with us (wish they could get their own frequent flyer accounts! ). We spent New Year’s in Vancouver, British Columbia, again this year and participated in another Polar Bear Swim in English Bay on January 1. Other international travel included a week in Singapore in March and a weeklong river cruise in Lyon, France, with some of Evan’s family. Finally, as part of my path toward transitioning to an encore career in the language professions, I’m now part of the French volunteer translator team for Kiva.org, a great microlending organization.”

Steve Wald emails, “Rachel Whitaker and I celebrated 32 years together in early June. Nineteen years in Urbana, Illinois, just down the street from the wonderful Evelyn Shapiro ’87. Rachel is the Harry E. Preble Professor of Microbiology at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; I am living a SiSP graduate’s dream as director of government relations for the College of ACES (agriculture), here in the heart of the Corn Belt. Did you know Wesleyan was home to the nation’s first agricultural experiment station in 1875? In frequent touch with classmates . . . Wes equipped us for this awesome, awful moment. Hold strong!”

Thanks to everyone who wrote in this time around. It was great to hear some new voices, so I’d encourage anyone who has even a shred of news to share to send it in the future!

Abigail Lorber writes, “I am the grants manager with Dogwood Health Trust, a major funder for western North Carolina. I am grateful that my work has allowed me to help with the response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a bit surreal to take a trip to Europe five days after the storm, but I especially enjoyed having a mini-Wes reunion with Andrea Spertus Lemon in Utrecht, in the Netherlands.”

Diego von Vacano is in Washington, D.C., this year, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, finishing a book on lithium and critical minerals in Latin America for Oxford University Press.

Sylvia Rowe writes, “After 17 years of working in global health for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, I left the nonprofit world. I have returned to my roots in corporate law and taken on a role as a mentor to young lawyers at Davis Polk. I’m happy to no longer be traveling on long international trips and to being more present, for the last two years, with our daughter before she goes to college. If you work near Grand Central in NYC give me a shout!”

Lisa Rothman has turned her passion project into her full-time focus. She founded StopFamilyConflict.com where she helps parents who’ve tried a million things but can’t stop the same fights from happening. They’re sick of being pushovers or police officers (sometimes both on the same day). Her approach turns each fight into a chance for deeper connection and a more trusting relationship, without compromising on anything that’s important to them or their kids.

Hadley Gustafson writes, “I earned a scholarship to study in-person in January with luminary Sam Abell through the Los Angeles Center for Photography (LACP.) The three-day workshop [was] called Sharpening Your Photographic Vision. You can read more about it here. 

I am also continuing to work as a photographer documenting LA cinema events.”

Darcie Luce wrote in with news that Jessica Kirshner was recently promoted to vice president of oncology research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, New York, where she has worked for over 16 years. She recently represented Regeneron at the Global Alliance for Women’s Health workshop, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Elisa Freeling lives in London, where she earned a postgraduate certificate in education at St. Mary’s University and trained as a religious studies teacher several years ago. She is now head of divinity at the West London Free School, in Hammersmith, and teaches religion, philosophy, and ethics.

Tuula Fai writes, “I can share that I’ve moved to Sedona, Arizona, and am loving it! I left high-tech after 30 years and founded my own real estate investment firm and am loving that too! I’m still distance swimming (laps), which I’ve been doing since they opened the Freeman Athletic Center in ’91.”

Greg Pasternack is leading a team of 30 folks from universities, local governments, and nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area on a project to help unsheltered people living along streams cope with climate vulnerability [due] to extreme wind-rain events and flash floods, while also seeking to restore ecological functionality to encampment sites. If any Wes folks in the area work on these issues, he’d love to hear from you. He met Wes alum Minona Heaviland ’99 and toured one of the Sonoma County regional parks she helps manage, so now they are developing proposals to solve problems with gullies. Greg reports, “She’s fantastic at her job, so it’s great to learn about other Wes alum in the Bay Area working on environmental solutions.”

Mike Kammen writes, “My life is very good. I went into my family business back in 1993 and pretty much have not looked back. The one constant is change—that is for sure! I’m still married to my awesome wife, Amy (23 years married). My son, Jackson, is a sophomore at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, [and] he is a catcher on the baseball team. My daughter, Dylann, is a senior at Immaculate Heart Academy and waiting to hear back from colleges for next year.”

Karina Eileraas Karakus recently published a book with her daughter, Annelise, called Chasing Spirits. The book explores issues of suicide, teen mental health and social media use after the tragic loss of her teenager during the pandemic. 

Thanks, everyone, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!

Hi Class of 1993!

I hope you are doing well. Please keep sharing your news with Sarah and me. We have some exciting updates, but we’d love to hear from more people in the future.

Julie Anderson writes: “I am right in Cheshire, close by to Wesleyan! I have been serving as head of school at Cheshire Academy, an independent boarding and day school, for the past seven years. I’m proud to have sent many of my students to Wesleyan. My husband, Tom, teaches math at the school, where we live on campus. My daughter graduated last year from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and my son is a sophomore at Hampshire College.” 

Ben Graves writes, “I’m staying busy in Nashville coparenting a precocious 11-year-old daughter, Olivia, and promoting a new LP, Settle Down, out October 11 on all major platforms. The record features a great band: Matt Rollings on all keys, Viktor Krauss on bass, and Jano Rix (Wood Brothers) on drums. I’m still a full-time associate professor of music at a local community college and gig regularly at local venues. Life is good!” www.bengraves.com 

Andy Nordvall was recently a panelist at 2024 San Diego Comic Con, where he talked about publishing a short story in the new Nightmare Theater 3-D anthology with artist Don Nguyen and the illustrated fantasy novel, Abyssal, with artist Paige Barr.

He also has two daughters in college. One starting her first year in robotics/engineering at UC Santa Cruz and the other studying business and costume design at UC Berkeley. He misses them something awful.

Tim Olevsky emails, “I just got back from a tour of Barcelona with the Worcester Chorus. We sang as part of the International Choir Festival, including singing in Sagrada Familia, Palau de Musica Catalunya (another 20th-century architectural masterpiece), and the medieval-era church of Santa Maria del Pi.”

Alison Wissot shares the following update: “I am entering my 22nd year as rabbi cantor of Temple Judea in Tarzana, California, and have been active on the boards of RabbisUnited and the Cantors Assembly. I spent my early years after Wes on stages in New York and London, and still perform in concerts all over the country, along with one of my favorite things, singing the national anthem at major league ball parks all over the place. I have recently run into several Wes friends: Dan Wulf ’92 and I found ourselves at the HaZamir International Jewish Teen Choral Festival, where he conducted, and my daughter and one of my sons sang on the stage of Carnegie Hall. Teddy Klaus ’77 also took the stage, accompanying some of the music on piano. With one child entering his sophomore year of college and a daughter applying to schools this year—and another son following two years later—my husband and I find ourselves reflecting upon our college years, and how full of personal exploration those years were.” 

Hi, everyone! The notes are pretty sparse this time around, so if you’ve got something (anything!) for next time, please send it along to either Sue or me.

Jennifer Work Blattner writes, “I had a great time visiting Wes twice last fall to drop off my child, Suz, who is class of 2027! So much fun to visit the old haunts and realize Olin still smells the same! Also enjoyed seeing all the new things and hearing about Wes from Suz’s perspective. Brings back so many good memories.”

Diego von Vacano recently received a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., to finish his book on the geopolitics and ethics of lithium in Latin America for Oxford University Press, for 2024–25. He is a professor of political science at Texas A&M University.

Hi everyone! We have some exciting updates: a mini-Wesleyan reunion, a film, a political campaign, and a book. In the final notes, two friends and classmates (Karen and Jessica) write updates about each other. 

Julie Francis writes, “I was shocked to find other Wesleyan peeps hanging out in Santa Cruz, California, thanks to an alumni event at Stanford earlier this year. It has been a total joy to get to know my new Wes buds: David Lakein ’92, Julie Charles ’91 (aka Julie Arlinghaus), and Dan Partland ’92. We’ve eaten some great food together (Julie can cook!), drank some great wine, shared some great conversations about controversial topics, commiserated about online dating (THREE of us are single!), laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed the presence of other slightly wacky kindred spirits. Anybody else hiding out here in Santa Cruz? If so, reach out! David and I are considering putting together some sort of West Coast get-together for early 2024. julie@juliefrancis.com.”

Hadley Gustafson and Dan Kapelovitz, who were college sweethearts at Wesleyan more than 30 years ago, are back together! They recently went to New York, where Dan showed one of his films at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There they met up with various Wesleyan alums, including David Buchbinder ’90, John Wyeth ’92, Deirdre Simon ’90, Kendra Hurley, and Matt Spain ’95. Hadley and Dan currently live in Los Angeles, where Hadley works as a visual digital creator and Dan is running for district attorney. Hadley and Dan greatly enjoyed seeing Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson ’03 for their September Hollywood the Oral History book talk at UCLA. Many Wes alums from many generations were there as well.

Karen Powell writes, “Dr. Jessica Holden Sherwood, author of the book Wealth, Whiteness, and the Matrix of Privilege: The View from the Country Club, has been steadfastly challenging our notions of gender, race, and socioeconomic status since our time at Wesleyan. She’s no less making social change than I am, influencing both her professional community and her students. She has steadfastly challenged the social norms in a way that is authentic and powerful. Shout-out to her husband, Jesse Sherwood ’95, for 30-plus years of partnership. Wes alumni rock!”

Jessica Holden Sherwood writes, “When I arrived at Wes in 1989, the club water polo players announced they’d like to evolve from coed to a men’s team and a women’s team. With that, Karen Powell and I became co-captains of the new women’s team. Through the years, Karen’s athletic career has continued from Ironman competitions through Roller Derby and ice hockey, which she learned at Wes. Now working as a law professor in Melbourne, Australia, Karen played on Australia’s first LGBT+ ice hockey club. Her 20-year-old kid, Grace, is a professional athlete who is nonbinary. Grace and Karen have pressed for progress, respectively, in adding pronouns to IFSC athlete profiles and in adding a nonbinary competition category at their local and state levels. As for me? I’ve had small victories protesting when my kids’ elementary school had a ‘father-daughter dance’ and when their upper school softball field was no match for the state-of-the-art baseball field. Mostly I teach sociology, including a gender course this semester. I was proud to share the news from Grace and Karen with my students.”  

Wes friends, we have some exciting updates in this set of class notes.  Coming off our 30th Reunion, several classmates will return to campus this fall to drop off their children, who will be members of the Class of 2027. This has been an exciting reunion year, thanks to the fantastic reunion committee and amazing Wesleyan staff.

Jacob Bricca emails, “I’m writing with the happy news that the feature documentary Missing in Brooks County, which I produced and edited, was recently awarded a George Foster Peabody Award. My wife, Lisa Molomot, who produced and co-directed the film, shared in the honors. I’ve also recently released a new book, How Documentaries Work, published by Oxford University Press.”

Camille McGadney and Andrew McGadney’s ’92 daughter, Naomi, will begin classes at Wesleyan this fall as a member of the Class of 2027.

Laura Ross writes, “As of July 1, I’ve been named head of school at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. I’ve been there for the last six years, most recently serving as associate head, and am very excited to take on this new challenge. Perhaps even more importantly, my husband Gregg ’90 and I are thrilled to report that our daughter, Casey, is a member of the Wesleyan Class of 2027 and can’t wait to arrive on campus for the first time in August. It was wonderful to see so many friends at our reunion in May.”

Julie Hanauer writes, “I’m still working as a full-time psychology professor at a community college, but also started ‘adjuncting’ classes at Stony Brook University. It’s been a nice transition and provides me with a great balance of students to keep me on my toes! I’m also getting married in June to an amazing man who keeps me constantly laughing and has become a wonderful soon-to-be stepfather to my two kids who are 12 and 15. I consider myself to be an extremely lucky person in a multitude of ways.”

Jacob Bricca’s second book was published in January by Oxford University Press. Titled How Documentaries Work, it is a behind-the-scenes, under-the-hood view into how meaning is created in nonfiction films and television shows. He also recently made a trip to Washington, D.C., with his wife and collaborator Lisa Molomot, to meet with congressional staffers about their film, Missing in Brooks County, which chronicles the migrant death crisis in south Texas. They brought two subjects from the film on the trip and lobbied for increased resources for identification and recovery efforts, and for a demilitarized approach to border security.

Bill Capuzzi writes, “Had a chance to hang out with the one, the only, Sean Cronin in November. We met in Delaware to see his daughter play in a hockey tournament. So great to hang for a night with Sean. Not surprising, we closed down the bar! Love him!”

Leigh (Gutsch) Lehman moved from San Francisco to Bend, Oregon, a couple years ago with her husband and two teens and is loving the slower pace and plentiful outdoor air. Please look her up if you ever pass through central Oregon!

Abigail Lorber Clarkson writes, “When I graduated from Wes, I took one month off and then started my master’s in education program. Two career changes later I am now happily working in a public library and recently earned my master’s of library and information science degree. For anyone contemplating a career change in middle age, I’m here to tell you, you can do it!”

Diego von Vacano has been advising Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales, head of the MAS Socialist Party, and his team in terms of lithium policy and anticorruption.

Tim Olevsky writes, “I was excited to get a chance to sing at Carnegie Hall back in October (not as a soloist, just as a chorister, but it was still pretty exciting!).”

Michelle Gagnon writes, “My first adult novel in over a decade is coming out on May 16. Killing Me is a humorous, feminist, neo-noir thriller about a former con artist who escapes one serial killer, only to end up in the crosshairs of another. And coincidentally, my editor at Putnam is fellow Wes alum Danielle (Springer) Dieterich ’13! I’m also finishing up a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University, while doing my therapy hours at the LA LGBT Center, working primarily with homeless teens and young adults. I’ve got one kid headed off to Princeton in the fall as a soccer recruit, and another entering senior year, so empty nesting is on the horizon. Hoping I can combine my book tour with a stop by Reunion in May, but that time of year will be unusually hectic with graduations.”

Cain Dimon writes, “All is well here in North Carolina. Trying to make it to the class reunion. After introducing my son to Wes this past summer during college tours, he has decided to attend Wes next year and is now in the class of 2027! Crazy to think about but looking forward to being back at Wes more often.”

Andy Nordvall’s older daughter, Athena Ngov-Nordvall, will graduate from high school this May. She’s a West Coast girl, though, so he couldn’t nudge her to Wesleyan despite her fervent interest in acting and costume design.

Dan Crane writes, “This June I’ll be at the Tribeca Film Fest with a documentary I wrote about legendary newsman Dan Rather, directed by Frank Marshall—if you’re at the festival, let me know! More docs are in the works.”

Thanks, as always, to everyone who wrote in with their news. Please keep it coming and we hope you had a great time at Reunion!

Hi, Wes friends. We have exciting news—overseas trips, career updates, and a wedding held at the Boston Public Library. We hope 2023 brings you holiday cheer and the chance to attend your 30th Reunion on campus during the weekend of May 25–28, 2023.

Anne Beaven writes, “I just got back from a business trip to Italy. It was my first time there, so I took some days to go to Florence, eat gelato, eat pizza, eat pasta, see the David statue, and learn I am scared of heights when I climbed the dome of the Duomo.”

Noel Lawrence emails, “I moved overseas to Portugal where I am currently writing a U.S. remake of Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Star Maker (Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film). If any alumni are traveling through Porto, look me up and let’s enjoy a glass of Port. In case you didn’t know already, ‘Port’ is named after Porto. The outdoor cafes on my street have a lovely view of the Douro River as well.”

Andy Nordvall lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids. He teaches, writes children’s books and spends entirely too much time on the internet.

Karen Powell writes, “I recently became an Australian citizen, and will be between Melbourne, Australia, and Helena, Montana, for the foreseeable future. I’ve been appointed to the International Federation of Sport Climbing Governance Commission, so if anyone is interested in connecting about sport, sport law, governance, Olympics, or climbing, I’d love to hear from people. With that project I get to do a bit of traveling (Singapore and Switzerland in 2023), so also happy to connect with other global Wes alum. I’m still teaching law in Melbourne if there are other academics out there too. Cheers from Down Under.”

Jodi Samuels emails, “In September, I was promoted to senior director, Strategic Support for Colleges and Scholars, at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, where I’ll be marking my three-year anniversary on November 12th. Evan and I recently had to bid farewell to our beloved fur baby girl feline, Calypso, who graced us with nearly 15 years of wonderful companionship. We’ve now welcomed a new kitty from the local shelter to our household, a three-month-old orange tabby boy whom we named Louis XIV. (Say the Roman numeral in French, like the original Sun King, and it sort of sounds like “cat”orze 🙂.) We’re planning some international travel for January and have continued our frequent domestic travel to see family and friends and college football in Austin, Denver, Chicago, and Madison, and also a couple of trips to Hawai’i for vacation. I had two in-person work conferences this fall for the first time in nearly three years (!), including co-presenting a session at the Strengthening Student Success Conference in Orange County in early October.”

Antonia Townsend writes, “I’m living in dark but delightful London with my son and husband. We were recently thrilled to have Chris Mulhauser ’92 and his wife stay with us, and even had a too-brief visit from Erica Terry Derryck ’95. Please, let me know if you are in town, as I’m always up for tea and crumpets with a Wes friend.”

Diego von Vacano emails, “I am back in Texas as a professor of political science at Texas A&M University after some time in Europe. I have been advising the Bolivian government on its lithium resource for climate change policies in the last three years. I am working on a book about this experience for Oxford University Press to come out next year. I am also doing semiprofessional soccer photography, something I started at Wes in 1990, as I covered the EURO 2020 Final, the Finalissima in London, and the most recent Champions League Final in Paris for Bolivian outlets. Looking forward to the Qatar World Cup and also attracting more foreign investment to Bolivia’s lithium sector to work with the Movement Towards Socialism ruling party to help Bolivia develop, using all my CSS skills!”

Sadie Van Buren (maiden name Johnson while at Wes) married Michael Gilronan at the Boston Public Library on September 26, 2022. She will be Sadie Gilronan going forward.