Susan Maher Van Ness ’14
Susan Maher Van Ness ’14 passed away on September 9, 2024. A full obituary can be found here.
Tag: 2014
CLASS OF 2014 | 2024 | SUMMER ISSUE
Hi 2014 classmates!
We hope that you are all finding time to take care of yourselves despite how hectic life often becomes. We hope that those who were able to make it to our 10-year reunion had a great time.
Anthony Calderon writes, “I should’ve never taken that flight to Madrid (thank you Dylan Turmeque ’13, MA ’14)! I’m celebrating 10 years of living in Europe. These days you’ll find me splitting my time between Madrid and Ibiza. Work-life balance.”
CLASS OF 2014 | 2024 | SPRING ISSUE
Leslie Lai writes, “I met up with several Wes friends recently! Xian Hui Ang ’15 and I visited Michael Leung ’15 in Philadelphia in late October. A rugby game, several happy hours, and a weekend long of nonstop chats later, my mind and body were replenished. I enjoyed grabbing ‘work’ lunches with Reese Sy ’13 in Cambridge where our offices are just a few blocks away from each other. Angela and Paul Hanakata and I got our kiddos together for the first time. Nothing beats seeing new friendships form.”
Chelsie Green writes, “I moved to Los Angeles in the summer after working at Wes for a year, which was quite the experience! It’s been great to reconnect with so many people from Wes over here (sometimes by accident, which is always a sweet surprise). I’m working as a psychotherapist and co-writing a book about college mental health with another Wes alum, Christopher Willard ’01, coming out via Oxford University Press next year. I’m also completing a program to become an Ayurvedic practitioner to fold that into my holistic wellness business. Otherwise, I’m mostly obsessed with American Girl dolls, the Norwegian language, and skin-care products.”
Isabel Stern writes, “My Wesleyan sweetheart, Donnie Cimino ’15, and I got married! We had tons of Wes alums in attendance ranging from Class of ’74 to Class of ’21! The fight song was sung.”
Reunion note: Chelsie and I are very much looking forward to celebrating our 10-year reunion on campus, May 23–26, 2023. It is amazing how quickly time is beginning to move. Don’t forget to book lodging soon. I am told rooms on campus will be in very short supply and therefore very expensive! If you wait for registration to come out, it will likely be too late to secure something close to campus and/or affordable. In speaking to several of our class members who have already booked on Airbnb, there are certainly great choices available, but they are going quickly, and prices are increasing!
Go Wes!!
CLASS OF 2014 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE
First off, Chelsie and I wanted to introduce ourselves as the new co-secretaries for the class of 2014. In reality this is just a fancy way to say we will be the ones who beg you all to send in a short note for the class updates section of the alumni magazine . . . . 😊 For those taking to the quill: We want to know what you’re up to AND what you’re into these days. One of the aspects of the Wesleyan community that we miss most is the exposure to such fascinating and passionate people, so we would love to hear what you’re reading, listening to, or learning about. And of course, in typical fashion, we would like to hear about your achievements, your joys, and where you’re at in the world.
Cynthia Tong wrote: “The inhabitants of 72B Home, who have been scattered around the globe since graduation, reunited in Maine this August.”
Go Wes!
CLASS OF 2014 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE
A few life updates from ’14ers:
Following eight years working in book publishing at Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group in NYC, Haley Weaver moved across the country to Seattle where she is now working as a freelance editor.
After several years of working as a chef, Rehan Mehta recently opened a New York–style pizza and sandwich shop in his hometown of Mumbai. It’s called East 7th Pizza & Deli. He says, “Come visit!”
Kallan Benjamin and Elliot Meyerson welcomed their daughter Elowah at the end of December. They live in Madison, Wisconsin.
Julia “Jay” Benedith is a second-year doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. Jay said, “My research focus is wellness coaching in the education space.” After moving to Washington, D.C., last year, “I purchased a condo near the waterfront, and became the associate director of talent development at KIPP DC. I continue to run my business, J. Benedith Coaching Services! It’s been a pleasant whirlwind of a year!”
Henry Cheung wrote, “I find myself reminiscing about the good old days on Foss, 14C Warren ragers, and even late nights studying at Exley or in the lab at Hall-Atwater. One of my greatest joys at Wes was being the founder of WesCompliments . . . seeing all of the unsolicited compliments come through the [Facebook] page not only for their friends but also complete strangers . . . just so much love and care. Perhaps send a compliment to someone just for the heck of it? Can’t hurt. Hope everyone is taking care. :)”
CLASS OF 2014 | 2023 | SPRING ISSUE
Julia “Jay” Benedith writes, “This year, I moved from New York City—my home for 30 years—to Washington, DC! I am a homeowner, a business owner, and a doctoral student. I’m so thankful for my time at Wes. My support system is based in the lifelong friendships I made on campus!”
Gianya Breland gave birth to a baby boy, Cassius Lee, on July 24, 2022, weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
Sky McGilligan and Brooke Baker ’13 got married on September 10, 2022, and had a ton of Wesleyan people from both classes in attendance.
Leo Liu shares, “Still living in Washington, D.C., and working in politics! I was enjoying age 30, going on lots of gay dates, and then this summer I got the dreaded long COVID. I basically had to cancel all my plans, and I’ve since been focused 100% on trying to recover my health.”
Will Dubbs currently lives in Washington, D.C., advising on political campaigns and biosecurity. But in his head, he’s back making pizzas at 14b Warren.
Ella Dawson sold her debut novel, The Reunion, to Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. If all goes smoothly, it will reach the shelves of your local bookstore in 2024.
For the past couple of years Amanda Sonnenschein has been developing her directing portfolio in Los Angeles and New York. Since 2021, she has directed a short, animated film titled Pizzato (available on YouTube); the first episode for an anthology horror series, Legends of Sleepy Hollow (on Amazon Prime); a comedy short, Will You Be My Quaran-tine? (on Facebook Watch and YouTube); and is currently in postproduction on the pilot for a D&D comedy fantasy series, The Game, which she both directed and produced. In addition to preparing for future episodes of The Game, Amanda is in preproduction on her first feature film.
Andrew Cohen has enjoyed dominating his Wesleyan fantasy football league—now in its 12th year (starting freshman year!)—which includes Nathan Josephs, Richie Starzec, Jake Barack, Joey Schwartz, Will Dubbs, Christian Schneider, Jordan Gaynes, Alex Cannon, and Brett Keating ’15. They are using their experience to inform a new-wave stage adaptation of the popular FX show The League, set to begin workshops at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this summer.
CLASS OF 2014 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE
Those with class notes, please contact classnotes@wesleyan.edu.
CLASS OF 2014 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE
Please write to your class secretary.
CLASS OF 2014 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE
Juliana McLain and her now husband Zach Silversmith officially tied the knot at a beautiful and dancing filled Jain-Jewish fusion celebration in Pier 60 in New York City that I and many Wesleyan alums including Ferhad Sultani, Reina Barnswell, Jake Smith, Esthefany Castillo, Nicole Softness, Jessica Titlebaum, Nicole Okai, Lauren Seo, Will Durney, and Oren Cook had the privilege of attending. The Wesleyan fight song was definitely featured at the end of the night. Mazel Tov!
Jenna Lamm reports: “I’ve been in NYC since graduation and am now the associate director of Disability Programs at the City University of New York. Would love to connect with fellow alums who are in the field or work at an organization trying to ramp up disability hiring efforts. My students are amazing and many are looking for opportunities!”
Rachel Warner is earning her PhD in 20th-century American literature and gender and sexuality studies from UNC Chapel Hill this spring 2022.
Jay Benedith is leveraging her expertise as an instructional coach and a life coach, and founded J. Benedith Coaching Services (https://www.jbenedith.com/). Through her business, she facilitates workshops for educational entities and coaches Millennial and Gen Z educators to reach their professional goals. Furthermore, she is a contributing writer and podcast speaker for Truth For Teachers (https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/). Last but certainly not least, she is a doctoral candidate in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point and lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their mini-aquarium.
Take care of yourselves and keep shining.
CLASS OF 2014 | 2021 | ISSUE 1
Tyler Holzschuh graduated with an electrical engineering Master’s degree from UCLA in 2016. He became a licensed engineer in the State of California in 2019 and is now working at the California Public Utilities Commission on wildfire issues.
At the end of 2020, Ella Dawson left the social media industry to write full-time. She signed with Jamie Carr, a literary agent at the Book Group, and is supported directly by her readers on Patreon, where she publishes exclusive essays about intimacy and relationships.
Jay Benedith reports that she is an EdD candidate in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point, and started her own business called J. Benedith Coaching Services (www.jbenedith.com).
Julian Theseira is deepening his engagement with climate policy research and advocacy in Southeast Asia. He worked on a climate adaptation policy proposal together with Justin Liew ’18 and others which made it to the finals of an international Youth Adaptation Policy Case Competition organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They have since submitted elements of their policy proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Water Malaysia as a civil society contribution to the process of the updating of Malaysia’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. Julian has also been elected to serve on the board of the Climate Action Network Southeast Asia, a coalition of climate NGOs and the regional Southeast Asian node of the global Climate Action Network.
Will Dubbs has just settled in DC after 7+ years on the campaign trail—most recently working for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in Iowa. While waiting for his next gig, he spends his days losing at board games to his friend Cpt. Dr. Jake Barack.
Jeremy Judelson is living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and just began a new job as a Creative Strategist at TikTok’s Creative Lab.
Jennelle Herrick is celebrating her fifth year in Maui working for the high end luxury developer, Discovery Land Company. Jennelle is a licensed realtor and notary for the State of Hawaii. In 2020, Jennelle launched her company Maui Apothecary Magic, LLC where she makes organic soy candles with essential oils and healing crystals.
After returning from his travels in Bhutan a few years ago, Richie Starzec has since taken over his father’s former business and is in the middle of shifting the focus of the company from open capital to defense technologies.
Andrew Cohen recently started a second job alongside his work in entertainment PR, co-founding small animation studio, Confidential Creative, where he recently worked to animate music videos for musicians including Journey, Kesha, P. Diddy and Maroon 5. He has also been spending his quarantine playing Mafia over zoom with new friends.
Tess Keller reports: “My life since Wes has led me from a double major in French and Anthropology to a career as a bilingual digital marketer. After graduation, I moved to Burlington, Vermont and started learning digital marketing at Dealer.com, one of the companies that led to our being able to purchase a car completely online today. From there, I moved on to a marketing agency, where over the years I rose from an account manager to running the digital marketing division of the company, really making my mark in adopting and implementing Agile methodologies to turn a new page on the company’s capacity. Most recently, I moved to the Boston area, and now work as a strategic digital marketing architect, helping connect a rich but outdated database with the modern practices and software available to harness automation to grow sales and marketing reach exponentially. I’m able to also employ my language skills in this role, and am managing the website launches in five more languages. I miss my Wesbesties all the time, but it’s been great when I can connect with fellow Cardinals, especially during the pandemic. It has meant a lot to rekindle conversations and friendships during such a trying time. It was awesome when the West Coast members of Notably Sharp resurrected the old group thread just to check in to say hey. I still don’t know if we ever got everyone on the same thread (will Androids and iPhones ever play nice?) but it helped to feel connected to some of the people that are part of who I am as a person today. I’m looking forward to when we can again visit each other in our cities across the world. And of course, I can’t wait until Reunion can be the real deal again.”
Jason Shatz just moved back to the New York City area to work as a software engineer for Barclays.
After six years in New York, Maureen Gorman is currently pursuing an MBA at INSEAD. Upon graduating in July 2021, she and her husband Aurélien will be settling in Paris.
Joshua Krugman continues to work for the 57-year-old political theater company, Bread & Puppet Theater, based in Glover, Vermont. He invites Wesleyan folks to come up to see a show Friday to Sunday this summer—socially distanced and outdoors in the beautiful North East Kingdom landscape—and to get in touch if you’d like to bring a touring show to your city.
Mia Rossi is continuing to produce music both solo and with other artists. She has also started her own life and mindset coaching practice based in Los Angeles where she meets online with clients as far as New Zealand! You can find her on IG as @mia.c.rossi.
Nikolai Muth and Rehan Mehta were honored to be groomsmen at Ismet Jooma’s wedding. Congratulations!
Jackson Ulrich shares: “Russell Madison is living in sunny Encinitas, California, having recently completed his masters degree in bioinformatics this spring. His graduate studies are especially impressive considering he’s already balancing a full-time career in data science with an intense surfing habit and an ambitious pursuit of the perfect homebrewed kombucha.”
Alex Nunez is pioneering the burgeoning field of in-game esports advertising as the lead ad rep for Madden at EA Sports. He is proud to have brought on some of his favorite snacks as official Madden partners, including Snickers and Pizza Hut. He kindly asks his classmates not to bother asking for a Madden code.
After a stint at AI startup Innoplexus that had him traveling the globe like a software-slinging Carmen Sandiego, Chase Hochman has settled down in Brooklyn and is now working at Kenshoo, an ad-tech shop. When he’s not playing squash with Alex Nunez or basketball with housemate Jackson Ulrich, Chase spends his free time acquiring new kitchen gadgets to be used once.
Amber Bruckner graduated from Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine with a DDS in 2019 and will finish her residency as a pediatric dentist this summer. She claims to have single-handedly caused a jigsaw puzzle shortage in the Tri-State area last spring.
Troy Sampson is still importing and exporting allegedly-legal goods in Los Angeles, where he lives in Marina Del Rey. Give him a ring if you’re ever in town and have a couple of hours to spend learning about cryptocurrencies.
Just across town from Troy is Patrick Newman, who is still managing and representing a variety of creative talent at Mosaic Media Group. He specializes in comics, illustrators, and fielding multiple intraday FaceTime calls from Gustav Gregor.
Gus Gregor obtained a masters degree in business communications from Northwestern University and completed a tour of duty for the Danish Trade Council in Chicago in 2018. Since finishing up at the Trade Council, Gus has been working in Spark Foundry’s pharmaceutical division. An avid rider over the past year, he boasts over 400 Peloton badges.
And finally, as for me, I am living the first year attorney life as a Law Clerk at Walden, Macht, and Haran LLP in New York City where I mostly focus on white collar matters, after graduating from Fordham University School of Law last spring. Suits ain’t got nothing on me! In my spare time I’ve been getting creative in the kitchen and with my cocktail shaker and am constantly on the quest for the latest and greatest HIIT workout. It’s been great connecting with Wesleyan friends (even if just via Zoom) who have kept me sane during the pandemic. Looking forward to connecting with more of you once things go back to normal.
Much love to the Class of 2014 from your class secretary.