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| JAN./FEB. 2004 VOLUME 106 NUMBER 4 | Class Notes |
90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99
90 | This issue, our class column takes a look at 1990 by the numbers . . . 2 is the number of baby girls with the beautiful name Cassandra reported by classmates recently. Michelle Allen and husband Chuong Vando ’93 of Everett,WA, welcomed Cassandra Vando in July 2002. Across the country in Maryland, Laushe ren Berkow (who married on Memorial Day 2001) is the proud mom of her Cassandra, who was born in October 2002 and received in a newly built house on the fabulously named Bold Venture Drive.
3 is the number of dogs—Labradors, to be exact—that greet Ellen AlenceMatheson at the door each day. “But who’s counting?” she asks. New yellow Lab puppy Bitta (short for Bit o’Honey) joins Baci, Ellen’s Cornell graduation present, and Nilla in the Matheson home. Ellen is a veterinarian in Lithia, FL. She also told us that Gillian Lucks Kaeyer had a baby girl, Megan Elizabeth, in December 2002.
4 is the number of classmates who sent news of new homes. Carolyn Johnson Challoner, who is still surprised to find herself living in the Midwest, built a new house in Neenah, WI. “Been in for six months and still not unpacked yet!” Philip Sandler, with wife Verna and children Lindsay and Drew, bought a new home in Katonah, NY. He was recently named senior VP and director ofWunderman Interactive, a NY-based Web marketing agency. Perhaps he will bump into Neera Rellan Stacy at lunchtime. She and her husband bought a coop in Manhattan in 2002. Holly Jean Nachbar Heidelberger bought her first house in January 2003. She lives in West Valley, NY, works for veterinarian brother Scott Nachbar ’87, DVM ’91, and is “just loving life!”
5 is the number of Class of ’90 marriages recently featured in the New York Times. Andrew Neuwirth, JD ’96, and Lisa Kallenbach were married in January 2003. Also that month, Paul Simic, MD ’98, a chief resident in orthopedics at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, was married to Amanda Mazzocco, an occupational therapist at New York Hand Rehabilitation. Dolly Chugh wed CJ Singh in July 2003. She is a candidate for a PhD in organizational behavior and social psychology at Harvard, where she also received an MBA. Robert Wisniewski married Mary Lanzerotti, PhD ’97. In a match made in high-tech heaven, both are computer scientists at the T.M.Watson Research Center of IBM. She designs high-speed microprocessors for supercomputers; he writes software for them. Deborah Hays, the fundraising director for the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, married violinist Uli Speth, a member of the orchestra for the Bohème production playing on Broadway.
6 is the number of children that can call the amazing Liz Russo Gilges “Mom.” She gave birth to number six, Avery William, on Mar. 25, ’03. As if caring for a large family weren’t enough, she and her family also hosted a Czech exchange student, who even started dating a Cornellian and brought him home for dinner!
7 is the number of newlyweds who dropped us a note with news of their nuptials. Katherine Chen Swanson sent brief word that she tied the knot in March 2003. Krista Kuehnel used the Cornell website to quickly let us know that she married Matthew Kineiko in May 2003. Larry Gritz also logged on to write that he got married to Beth Loughney “after being together for ten years.” Lissette Leon told us she married Bill McClain in November 2002 and went to Italy for the honeymoon. Ricardo Aparicio exclaimed, “I got married to Holli Medenwaldt!” They had a small wedding in Southern California and reside in Maple Grove, MN, where Ricardo works at General Mills. Sheryl Resnick Carini wrote of honeymooning in Hawaii after marrying John Carini in July 2002. Bridesmaids included Ilyssa Rothman Alter, Stacey Agin Schwartz, Susan Gross Scharf and Jennie Tenser Cammeyer ’91; other Cornellians at the festivities included Jay ’89 and Alisa Kossowsky Strauss, Jamie Wolfe Weinstein, Steven ’89 and Julie Goldsmith Simms, Karen Landman Getz, and Bonnie Mann Falk. While not exactly “newly” wed, David Schiffhauer filled out his news card to get us caught up on his life. He married Dr. Linda McHugh in September 2001. Cornellians there to celebrate included Tom ’88 and Jill Schiffhauer Baxter ’91, Rodrigo and Julie Clark Pineiro, Dr. Erica Schorr-Evans, Kathy Kuchler Wilcox, and Dr. Doug Wojcik. David and Linda met while teaching skiing to the disabled, and in January 2003 daughter Sarah Marie joined the family.
8 is the number of moving vans criss-crossing the country with classmates’ belongings. Catherine Campbell left Atlanta for the Washington, DC, area to take a new job at the National Institutes of Health. Terry Osika Cornelius headed south for Greensboro, NC. Kevin Ma moved to Columbus, OH, to serve as investment manager at Nationwide Insurance. Jocelyn Giezendanner Lofstrom and husband Carlos are off to London for three years (until June 2006). “We expect to host many family members and good friends and to enjoy ourselves with abandon.”Nicole Timan O’Rourke relocated to West Hartford, CT, where she has taken a position as VP of advertising and brand management at Aetna.Veterinarian Erica Schorr-Evans and husband David Evans ’92 moved from Massachusetts to Seattle in August. Robert and Susan Portman Price, MRP ’91, and their three sons have settled in Villanova, PA. “After six years in San Antonio, TX, we are sad to leave such a great city, but happy about our new opportunities outside of Philadelphia. Rob is now chief marketing officer at Wawa convenience stores.” Along with most of us, they miss Hot Truck! Now that they’re further east, perhaps they’ll feed the craving with a road trip. Scott Beijer and family have moved to Salt Lake City for his job with the Pepsi Bottling Group as director of retail sales. He misses sitting at the Palms drinking $1 Schaefers. It may take a slightly longer drive to quench that thirst!
9 is the number of classmates reporting something beyond wedding, birth, and job news that can only be categorized as unique. Kathy Kirk of Descanso, CA, sent a calling card promoting her endeavor, Applied Spirituality. Visit her website at www.appliedspirituality.com. Ani Phyo just published a Web design book, endorsed by the American Inst. of Graphic Artists, Return on Design: Smarter Web Design That Really Works. Check it out at www.smartmon key.com/returnondesign. Also publishing (yet another) book is Brad Herzog. His latest is aimed at children: K is for Kick: A Soccer Alphabet, published by Sleeping Bear Press.Matthew Cornetta tried his first federal case this year. “Now I know where they get the expression ‘Don’t make a federal case out of it.’” David Herz closed his law practice to take care of his kids, but instead wound up running a nursery school.He and family were planning to move to Israel in November 2003. James Kumpel was featured on the front of the Wall Street Journal “Money & Investing” section, getting “rare positive press for sell side analysts.” David Healy recently returned from Iraq, where he was the doctor for one of the Marine Corps’ infantry battalions.He and wife Carol are moving to San Diego so David can start his ENT residency. On the home front of bravery, Jessica Lattman took her 4-year-old daughter Alexandra skiing in Vail for the first time and “she did great.” Tara CooperWilhoit is a stay-at-home mom, caring for her 3-year-old son who was diagnosed with epilepsy. She also has a 5-1/2-year-old daughter.
18 is the number of baby girls and 19 the number of baby boys for whom we have new and aging news not yet reported.We promise we’ll include more of the details in the next column. 20 (at least) is the number of “we’re engaged” or “we’re expecting” news we’ve received but cannot report, per magazine policy. Please send updates on the happy events once they’ve happened and we’ll print the news! v Alisa Gilhooley, AlisaGil@aol.com; Amanda Willis, AmandaEsq@aol.com; Carole Moran Krus, clm42@cornell.edu.
91 | Happy New Year, Class of ’91! As we embrace the year 2004 and all of the exciting developments that will soon unfold, we thought we’d take a moment to recap the milestones that our classmates experienced during the past year. Congratulations go out to Erika Ackermann Duffy, who was married to Michael last July. Erika and Michael currently reside in Reading, MA, where she recently took a position at Marblehead High School as a social worker. Jeff Goodman also joined the newlywed club last summer as he celebrated his marriage to Hope Heinecke at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas.Other Cornellians in attendance included Rob Williams, Dan Jones, who works as CFO of Bolt Industries, Stephen Dyott, who has a marketing job at Pfizer, and Jason Foehrenbach, who works at Computer Associates. Thanks go out to Rob Williams, who reported on the nuptials and also shared news of the birth in August of his daughter Caroline. Rob shares that he and wife Melissa are doing well. It seems the years of sleep deprivation while studying at Cornell has prepped them well for parenthood. Rob also reports that classmate Christopher Ruggio and wife Jackie celebrated the birth of another baby boy, Benjamin, last summer. Christopher works at Accenture in London and has been taking every opportunity to travel through Europe with his family, including trips to Provence and Tuscany.
Other Cornellians who are celebrating their new state of parenthood include Nate Bailey who, along with wife Camille, welcomed son John last April. Nate and his family live in Kansas City, MO. Also, Stephen Holden and wife Kristine had their first child, Stephen, in March. Stephen lives in Bronxville, NY. He staged a “mini-reunion” in New York City during the 2002 holidays with classmates Chris Field, MBA ’95, and Brian Finnegan ’93, as well as Mike Roark ’92, Anthony Tabasso ’94, and Hans Maentz ’93. Congratulations also go out to Celeste Tambaro-D’Alessandro, who celebrated the birth of her first son, now 1 year old. Celeste, husband David D’Alessandro, and son David (the III) reside in New York City. Lauren Rosenblum Goldman writes to announce the birth of her daughter Anna, who was born last July. Lauren and husband Geoff are both attorneys in Manhattan; Lauren practices appellate litigation at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Lauren also shares that classmate Liz Kleinberg and husband Mike Kanarick completed a six-month hiking expedition along the Appalachian Trail, having started in Georgia in March and finishing in Maine in mid-October. Lauren and Mike were hiking as a fund-raising venture to benefit the Child Welfare League of America, which aids abused and neglected children.
It seems the Class of ’91 is no stranger to adventure. In addition to explorations in Tuscany and Provence and along the Appalachian Trail, classmates traveled the globe far and wide during 2003. Debbie Sniderman, ME ’92, reports that she completed her second year of world travel, having most recently lived in Spain and the Canary Islands. Chris LaPunzina spent two months traveling through Southeast Asia after finishing an MBA at Duke U.’s Fuqua School of Business and is now pursuing a career in real estate investment. Corinne Kuchling also spent a month in Thailand in order to escape Seattle’s dreary winter skies. Finally, last summer many classmates embarked on a pilgrimage back to Ithaca to participate in Adult University (CAU) summer programs. Kim Brown Bixler spent a term improving her backhand at the Tennis Clinic and followed that up with a few weeks in the Personal Fitness Clinic. Stephen Gagnon spent the summer exploring the Gorgeous Gorges of the Finger Lakes. And finally, both Amy Wefer Faucher and Keith McAfee spent some time honing their culinary talents with CAU cooking workshops.
Elleke Monster Haggerty reports that “it’s great to be back!” She has returned to the United States with her family after living abroad for 13 years. Elleke has settled in the Washington, DC, area, where husband Steve ’90 works for Marriott headquarters. She is busy settling in with their children Anneke, 7,Mia, 5, and 2-year-old Ryan. David Ratner also changed address recently and now lives with wife Darcy in Los Altos, CA, where he works at Openwave headquarters in the Silicon Valley as director of engineering. Also living in the Silicon Valley is Lane Patterson, who lives in San Jose with wife Mimi (Lee) ’92. Lane writes that he attended a fun alumni event at San Jose Tech Museum last summer, where he had the opportunity to meet many alumni and become reacquainted with some whom he’d lost touch with. Gregory Florio writes that he’d recently seen alumni Jimmy Pitaro and Dave Koch. Gregory lives in New York City with wife Rachel.
Having shared news about the new parents of the Class of ’91, we should also share news of those classmates who are celebrating parenthood for the second or third time around. Laura Hubbert DiCarlo lives in Oxford, MS, and welcomed the arrival of their third son, William, who recently celebrated his first birthday. Cristos Goodrow and wife Elizabeth (Toole), JD ’97, reveled in the delivery of their third child last summer; baby Brendan joins the Goodrow family and siblings Corran, 3, and Isabelle, 2. Cristos also reports that he was visited by classmate Thomson McCormick while he was in San Francisco on a business trip. Andrea Belusko Hertzendorf saw a few big changes last year. Not only did she give birth to son Cade (who joins big sisters Caitlin, 5, and Cassidy, 2), but her family moved to Fort Leavenworth, KS, where her husband Michael is attending the US Army’s CGSC School for Majors. Elaine Chiu and husband Rob Leung recently announced the birth of their second son, William, who joins big brother Ryan, 2. Elaine and Rob live in New York City, where Elaine has just finished her first year as assistant professor of law at St. John’s, teaching both criminal law and family law. Elaine adds that Rob works at the corporate law group Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Westchester and that they both miss Ithaca!
Beyond family fluctuations, our classmates have new developments to report in the form of career changes, too. David Hwang reports on both.He and his wife Jiyoung live in Watertown, MA, where he has been working as division intellectual property counsel at Teradyne Inc. since the summer of 2001. David and his wife also welcomed the birth of their daughter Hannah later the same year. Susan Chen writes that she resides in San Francisco, where she works as director of business development for International Overture Services. Last summer David Nocilly joined the Syracuse law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC as an associate, concentrating in intellectual property law. And congratulations to Michele Ruiz, who last summer earned the rank of partner at Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood LLP in Chicago, where she practices primarily in matters of investment products and derivatives.
Once again, we’d like to congratulate all of our classmates on their myriad accomplishments and adventures.We hope that 2004 will bring us even more to celebrate! We’re glad to hear that many of you are keeping in touch with each other and hope that this column inspires you to continue to check in with your classmates and keep your class correspondents abreast of your activities. You can update us either at the Class of ’91 website, http://classof91.alumni. cornell.edu, or by e-mailing us. v Corinne Kuchling, kuccori@hotmail.com; Nina Rosen Peek, nsr5@cornell.edu; or Dave Smith, docds 30@yahoo.com.
92 | It’s October as I write this column —such a joyous time of year.Harvest and the holidays are here. There is a certain something in the air that smells like . . . happiness. Now if I could only bottle that scent. For those in New York City, you can see my face plastered on subway trains in an ad for Metropolitan College of New York. The ad can also be seen on www.moviemaker.com, www.timeoutny.com, Time Out NY and MovieMaker magazines, and local papers like The Daily News. I was also featured on the cover of the June/July issue of Working Mother magazine and had an article printed in its September issue. Yes, I’ve been busy. To boot, I had another baby in July! That makes four for me.A baby boy to even the score.Anyone else out there celebrating a new addition to the family? Write me and tell me all about it. We can share diaper stories. On to the news . . .
Wilson Morales reports that he is the website editor/film critic/journalist for blackfilm. com. He is also a segment producer/co-host for REEL WORLD on WBAI Radio (99.5 FM), which airs the third Thursday of each month. Succumbing to his alter ego, during the day he works as a financial headhunter for Easton Personnel, an employment agency in NYC. Jessica Ingram-Bellamy shares that she married Gerald Bellamy on June 17, ’00. They have no little ones yet. She is the recruitment chairperson for the Winant-Clayton International Volunteers Inc. (www.winantclaytonvolunteer.org), and would love for any Cornellian who may be interested in volunteering in the United Kingdom to apply.
Seth Isenberg says that his 2-year-old son Fisher is doing well. Seth was in Alaska again in early September, fishing for silver salmon with the fly rod.Would-be steelheaders can contact him in Oregon. Jennifer Lynn Johnson was married on July 12, ’03 to Peter Millones Jr. at the Spring House Hotel on Block Island. Class of ’92 members in attendance were Pamela Murray Bilfield, Patrick ’93 and Penelope Anne Graboys Blair, Stephanie Carter, Suzannah Johnson Creedon, Matthew Egan, Eric Einhorn, Victoria Janulaitis Isip, Anne Fogarty Kain, Kristen Koh Goldstein, Dana Leff Niedzielska, Corinne Cantrall Patten, and Cindy Zedeck. Mr. and Mrs.Millones met when they were associates in the New York office of the law firm of Latham & Watkins. Jennifer is now an intellectual property litigator at White & Case in New York.
Joe Gatto and wife Jennifer welcomed their first child, Alexander Pearce, in September 2002. Joe has been working at Merrill Lynch & Co. in Houston in energy investment banking for six years since receiving his MBA from the Wharton School in 1997. Beth Hensel reports that she and husband Scott welcomed Jessica Nicole into the world on July 8, ’03. After two days at home, their 2-year-old son Trey was not quite sure what to make of her, but seemed to be a proud big brother.
Patricia Santiago-Muñoz moved in late July. After months of renovating and trips to the Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams, etc., she finally has her dream kitchen. Recently, she started her second year as a Fellow in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Parkland Hospital, Dallas, TX. John J. Kim tells us that he and wife Lisa have a daughter Nina who celebrated her fourth birthday on August 15. In the last six months, the couple vacationed in Cancun,Mexico, and Honolulu, HI. After leaving Wall Street two and a half years ago, where he traded convertible bonds, John spent the last two years running the Environmental Derivatives Trading Desk for Shell Trading Gas & Power North America. The Merchant Energy Trading Sector soon fell apart and he decided to go back to the financial markets. He is now working for a hedge fund in the Minneapolis area as a convertible bond arbitrage trader and portfolio manager for its Quantitative Strategies Group.
Danielle De Maio married Michael Alan Paskin in Santa Fe, NM, on May 25, ’03. Until the beginning of May, Danielle was a vice president for investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. She is a chairwoman of the Wall Street Committee for V-Day, a charity that seeks to reduce violence against women, in New York. She received her MBA from Columbia.
Is that it? Is it over already? Naw, there’s got to be more news out there.Write to your class correspondents! Until next time . . . Be a light, and be well. vWilma Ann Anderson, info@WilPowerEnterprises.com; Renee Hunter Toth, rah24@cornell.edu; Debbie Feinstein, Debbie_Feinstein@yahoo.com.
93 | Hi, everyone! I apologize that some of this news is a little old, but we are working our way through some old News and Dues forms. Please make sure to send us some updates! Our addresses are at the end of the column.
Natasha Mitchell wrote that she received her PhD from the U. of North Carolina, Greensboro in counseling and educational development. She is currently an assistant professor at the U. of Maryland in the counseling and personnel services department. Joseph McGee wrote that he and wife Kelly have moved to Delray Beach, FL, where he has assumed a new position with MetLife as director of annuity sales in the Southeast US. Pankaj Talwar wrote that he moved to New York City to work as a director for strategic planning for George Weston Bakeries. Jessica Jones Sooudi is working to keep us all safer, as she is working in L.A. County for the department of health services to improve our readiness for biological, chemical, or radiological acts of terrorism. She and her husband are living in Pasadena. Rebecca Chapa wrote that in the summer of 2002 she did a lot of wine-related travel.Highlights were Australia, Portugal, and Spain. She is now re-focusing the wine classes she teaches at UC Berkeley. Last year also had Hirohide Abe move from Tokyo to Chicago, where he is working at Hyatt International Corp. as the director of strategic marketing. Brian Ott also moved last year from California to Massachusetts. Kurt Brown wrote to say that he did the Ironman Canada Triathlon as part of a fund-raiser for charity.
Wedding bells rang in 2003 for some of our classmates. Alissa Vradenburg married Michael Sheresky on May 24 in New York City. Alissa is a talent manager who represents actors at United Entertainment in Los Angeles. On May 25, Christian Haberlin, ME ’94, married Gineane Wolfson. Christian is a senior geotechnical engineer at Raytheon in Burlington. Stewart Whitman, MBA ’00, married Allison Nied on June 14 in Tarrytown, NY. Stuart works in Manhattan as the director of business development of Majestic Research, a company for institutional investors.
E-mail brings some newer news. Darren Tishler e-mailed to say that he moved to Birmingham, AL, with wife Stephanie and daughter Emma.He completed his surgery residency and is currently doing a fellowship in advanced minimally invasive surgery at the U. of Alabama, Birmingham, specializing in laparoscopic gastrointestinal and bariatric procedures. Tamar Dolgen wrote that after living and working in Mexico for three years, she moved back to Los Angeles with her husband Sergio Bicas. She has taken a job as a marketing director at Warner Brothers in their home video division.
Kelly Voll Foley sent an update that she married Michael in 1995. They now live in Avon, CT, with four children under the age of 7. She writes that raising four children successfully is the most challenging yet rewarding job she could have imagined, and that there is no career she can think of that would have used her HDFS degree like the stay-at-home Mom job has. She is also actively involved with the PTO at her children’s elementary school. Calin Moucha wrote that he is back in the tri-state area, where he was recently appointed assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at U. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). He will be subspecializing in adult joint replacement.
Lori Hamrick Bean e-mailed an update as well. She writes, “Despite the website listing, I did attend the 10th Reunion! It was great to see everyone. I left early to meet up with my husband Shane, my son Alex, and my parents in Ohio. Alex turned 1 on September 15.We just moved into our new house the week before, so it was a very small celebration amidst boxes.My son is a 5th generation Las Vegan, believe it or not! Quite a rarity. I’m working on my master’s via the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. I spent a week this summer on the campus and will be back in January. I’m still a certified financial planner practitioner and anxiously awaiting a bull market. My husband teaches seventh grade history in North Las Vegas. I keep in touch with Rachel Yarkon who looks fabulous! I’ve also become good friends with Kasey (Connelly) ’92 and Mike Zanolli. We saw Keith Weinberger, who gave us some great parenting tips—his son Jack just turned 2.”
Alison Amsterdam sent the news that Debbie Silverman Rothschild and her husband Jeffrey welcomed Jonathan Evan into the world on Sept. 14, ’03 in New York City. Bonnie Zucker wrote in to say that she married Eric Magnuson in L.A. this past August. Cornellians in attendance included her brother Adam Zucker ’97, her uncle Michael (Richard M.) Zucker ’62, and friends Erica Fishlin Fox, Rebecca Wilson, Roland and Judy Hudock Kays, and Tyler and Lisa Barcelo Story, both ’98. Bonnie is finishing up her PhD in clinical psychology at UCLA. Finally, congratulations to Valdi and Lauren Bailyn Sapira, MBA ’94, who welcomed their son Joshua Eytan on Aug. 13, ’03. Lauren and Valdi and baby Joshua are living in Hoboken, NJ.
Please note my new e-mail address below. While I am still working for the same company, we have recently changed our name. That’s all the news I have for the moment. Please keep it coming and have a happy 2004! v Yael Berkowitz, yberkowitz.y@mellon.com; Erica Fishlin Fox, ericazzz@aol.com.
94 | Ten years. How in the heck has it already been ten years since we embarked on our last semester far above Cayuga’s waters? At this time ten years ago, we were psyched to be gearing up for Wines class, hoping to hear from grad schools or looking for a job, and generally just itching to start life beyond college in just a few short months. A decade later, we are itching to spend a few days back in a dorm and relive our time at Cornell. That’s right, mark your calendars for Reunion 2004! Come June 10, we’ll be piling into Sperry and U-Hall 1 for a marvelous reminder of our collegiate glory days. For more information about reunion, check out the class website at http://classof94.alumni.cornell.edu, or e-mail our illustrious reunion chair Betsy McAfee Wilson at blm7@cornell.edu.
And frankly, what would a reunion be without an accompanying fund-raising campaign? Kristin Barbato, Dave Martin, Kim McKenzie Bendus, Karen Bierman Hirsh, Sara Lulo, JD ’02, and Jay Silpe are leading a committee of more than 30 classmates for our 10th Reunion Campaign. Our goal is to raise $130,000 from 725 donors.We also hope to reach 114 Ivy Society members and 12 Tower Club members. Thank you so much to those who have already supported our efforts by making a gift to Cornell. If you haven’t had a chance to make your gift yet, please join us! Gifts can be made online at www.alumni.cornell.edu/giving/giftcard.taf?function=giftform, or call 1-800-279-3099. Don’t forget that you can double or triple the size of your gift if you work for a Matching Gift Company. Check with your human resources representative to learn more.
In the meantime, more and more classmates are joining the ranks of the marrieds. Amy Moskowitz married Lewis Lahana in NYC on July 13, ’03. She’s a freelance photo editor, and he’s a library media specialist at a Manhattan public school. Chris Gallagher and Libby Smith ’95 were married in a private sunset ceremony on the beach in Islamorada, FL, on July 29, ’03. The couple lives in Terre Haute, IN, where Chris is a narcotics detective with the Terre Haute Police Dept. and Libby is an occupational therapist working in Medical Rehab.
On Aug. 23, ’03, Scott Behson married Amy Griffin, a professional stage actress who has starred off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway and in the first Broadway national tour of Seussical the Musical, as well as many other regional theaters. The wedding was at the Florham Mansion at Fairleigh Dickinson U., where Scott is an assistant professor of business management. Scott writes: “Amy and I met on a blind date that was set up by Kristin Maloney ’97, also a professional stage actress.”Kristin was part of the wedding party, as was author and former Cornell Alumni Magazine associate editor Beth Saulnier. Co-best men were Kevin Walsh ’94 and Scott Evenson ’95. Other Cornellians in attendance were Neil Cohen, Bradley Kaufman, Brad Arlett, Jason ’94, MMH ’98, and Elyse Gould Saltsberg, MMH ’99, and Sada Manickam ’93.
Even the lawyers are finding time to marry, publish, and (gasp!) breed. On the marrying front,White & Case associate Jennifer Johnson married Priceline.com general counsel Peter Millones Jr. on July 12, ’03. The pair met while working at Latham & Watkins. Also, Julianna Gerbasi was married to Gregory Kaden on Sept. 6, ’03 on Martha’s Vineyard. Julianna writes: “Greg and I met in law school at the U. of Chicago (we graduated from there in 1999) and both work at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston. I am in the corporate department and he is in the creditors’ rights department. We had an absolutely gorgeous September day for the wedding. Two Cornellians were bridesmaids, Liz Cuthill Eberhart ’93, who was there with her husband Matt, and Danielle Rinsler ’93, who was there with her husband Patrick Heron and gorgeous baby Anna.” Also in attendance were Soo Kang, Cindy Liu, Nathan Buchek ’96, Holly White ’95, and Julia Reichgott Prieto ’93. Julianna jokes, “We moved to the suburbs (Wellesley) after the wedding, so I guess I am doing all of my growing up at once.”
Scariest of all, lawyers are breeding and I can make that joke because I am talking about myself. Hubby Michael Alex Wasylik and I welcomed Alexander Michael into the world on June 11, ’03. I am proud to note that he already has at least two Cornell outfits. Alex isn’t the only one keeping the Campus Store in business. Chris and Carrie Kurtz Turner welcomed their first child, Jonah Harrison Turner, on Aug. 23, ’03. Alex’s good friend Cassandra Page Youn is a double legacy also heading for the Class of 2025. Daughter of Joe ’91, M Eng ’93, and Mary Sue Page Youn, Cassie, entered the world on May 7, ’03.
Remember: Reunion=good. News=good. Donations=good. Duespaying=good. Let’s show the world how successful we’ve become in ten short years! v Dineen PashoukosWasylik, dmp5@cornell.edu, Jennifer Rabin Marchant, jennifer. marchant@kraft.com; and Dika Lam, DEL5@cornell.edu.
95 | Happy New Year! Although I am writing this column in October, I am still able to reflect on the years past and look forward to what’s ahead. I am amazed that it’s been ten years now that I’ve been writing this column, and even more amazed that our ten-year Cornell reunion is just a year away. Before long, we’ll all be back on the Hill, drinking some Finger Lakes wine, meeting one another’s spouses and families, sharing old memories and making new ones. Stay tuned for updates throughout the coming year and a half from Alumni House and your class officers. And let the countdown begin!
In the meantime, updates from our classmates have been sloooowly trickling in (so, if you’ve got classmate info you’re hiding from us, please send it our way!), but what I do have is all great news. Steven Strell writes that, on Aug. 10, ’03, he married Rachel Davis at La Foret restaurant in San Jose.“Rachel is an extremely talented artist attending classes at San Jose State, and the love of my life.” Awwwww. Unfortunately, according to Steve, the only thing the wedding lacked was lots of Cornellians (he speculates it was due to the travel distance). However, one member of the class, Steven’s oldest friend from elementary school, Samir Bhatt, made the trip from Manhattan. “And there was, of course,my Mom, Ronni Schulbaum Strell ’58, in attendance.” The happy couple honeymooned on a Carnival cruise to Mexico and are now settling into married life in their apartment in Sunnyvale, CA. Classmates can view pictures and a movie Steven made of the wedding at http://homepage.mac.com/strells.
Steven also gave news of a wedding he attended on June 21—Claire Halligan ’94 (who started with our class but graduated a year early) married Doug Corliss in Pocono Pines, PA. Other Cornellians in attendance were bridesmaids Alex Gelber and Tanya Herdechny, and maid of honor Maura Flood Lentini, who also got married in Ithaca in July. On August 30, David Fitzhugh married Karen Wang ’98 right on the Cornell campus.Writes Dave, “Having met Karen during my senior year at Cornell through the Sage Chapel Choir, we got married IN Sage Chapel (how’s that for sentimental?), and our reception at the Statler followed thereafter.”Other class of ’95 attendees included Tim Dutta (one of the groomsmen) and wife Nerissa Guballa, MD ’99, Kami Patrizio (one of the readers), Jon Blocksom ’94, Alarick Yung, Rick and Lindsay Jordan Vincent, and Heidi Kretser.
Word also came to me in mid-September that our esteemed “Senator,” class officer Tony Romano, tied the knot in Savannah, GA. This report came from my DC-area “neighbors”Vincent and Lisa Gray Bertomeu. Vin is an optician and Lisa recently was promoted to a senior position at Hilton. Also in attendance were classmates Jason Lipman, Chris Rauber (with his wife and little girl), and Chris Cox and his wife, among many others. Melissa Biren Singer writes: “2003 has been an incredibly exciting year for Scott ’94 and me. In the spring, I earned my PhD in clinical psychology, and soon after, we bought a house in Chappaqua, NY, where we both grew up (so we pre-dated the Clintons!). Most importantly, on August 21, our beautiful daughter Kayla Biren Singer was born.We are just ecstatic with joy about our little wonder!”
More baby news comes from Wendy Breckenridge Nystrom, DVM ’99, who, with husband Bill, welcomed their first baby, Owen Scott, on June 18, ’03. Says Wendy, “He’s really a great baby—rarely fussy, really happy, totally easygoing. Parenthood is a joy.”Wendy is working as a veterinarian (part-time now) in the Chicago suburbs and really loves her job. She would love to hear from classmates at wmnystrom1@comcast.net.
In the world of academia, Rick Greenberg reports that he is in the middle of a two-year master’s program at Columbia’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) getting a dual degree in nonprofit management and social policy. In addition, he consults for two NYC-based nonprofit organizations that serve low-income populations, Greenwich House and Community Service Society. He and his wife Jessica have been married since June 2001.
Some exciting career/travel news from Elizabeth Leff: “I took a leave of absence from my job as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton in DC (where I was living and working for 3-1⁄2 years) after being selected for a traineeship program with the European Commission in Brussels. Following my five months in Europe, I came back to New York briefly before heading to Bangalore, India, on a Fulbright Fellowship for about nine months. There I will be affiliated with the Indian Inst. of Management and work with a nonprofit organization to do research on the use of information and communication technologies in development projects. I would love to be contacted by anyone in the region and can be e-mailed at elizabethleff@yahoo.com.”
So, short but sweet this month for our kickoff to 2004 and our 10th Reunion countdown. Please keep that news coming! v Alison Torrillo French, amt7@cornell.edu; Abra Benson, amb8@cornell.edu. Class website: www.classof95.cornell.edu.
96 | n96Short list of ways to tell we’ve all got 30th birthdays coming dangerously close: the only news I have to report this month is weddings, more weddings, and babies. Please stop! You guys are scaring me.
Wedding One: Elizabeth Bard married Gwendal Auffret on July 5, ’03 in Paris. Yes, that Paris. Classmates in attendance (besides me) included Betsy Levine, Afra Afsharipour, and Diego Valderrama ’95. Elizabeth is working as an art critic and historian. You can check out her stuff in the New York Times, among other publications. After stints in Madrid and New York City, Betsy has moved to Boston. Afra is a lawyer at Davis Polk in San Francisco, and Diego is at the Fed.
Wedding Two: Sheryl Kamholz married Todd Neufeld on Aug. 31, ’03 in Woodbury, NY. Stacy Aronowitz was one of the bridesmaids. Other classmates in attendance were Jessica Katz, Jasper, ME ’97, and Nisha Mathew Cordero, Robyn Levey, Ella Zalkind Gendlin, Rachel Berman Colchamiro, Samantha Klein, Deborah Kulick, and Evan and Vita Craine Cohen. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, Sheryl is working as a lawyer for the city of New York, and Todd is working as an intellectual property lawyer and running his own balloon entertainment company (www.balloonshow.com).
As for the scoop on the other Cornellians there: Nisha and Jasper Cordero welcomed Dylan Mathew on May 12, ’03. Nisha is a lawyer in New Jersey, and Jasper is a VP at Citigroup in NYC.Vita and Evan Cohen welcomed daughter Mia Isabelle on May 13, ’03. The Cohens are living in Boston, where Evan got his MBA from MIT and Vita is working as a lawyer. Also in Boston: Deborah Kulick, who’s doing her first year of residency in psychiatry at Harvard. Rachel Berman Colchamiro received her master’s in public health and is working for the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health. Robyn Levey was recently promoted to manager at Deloitte in NYC. And Ella Gendlin and Samantha Klein are both lawyers in NYC.
Wedding Three: Jessica Katz married Dan Poscover on Sept. 14, ’03 in Newton, MA (and then took off for a honeymoon in Spain). Classmates in attendance were Ellen Schiffer Berkowitz, Leslie Moskowitz Byck, Rachel Colchamiro, Jasper and Nisha Cordero, David, MD ’01, and Lauren Kalter Hass, Robyn Levey, Sheryl Neufeld, and Stephanie Schwarz Sailor. Jessica is an optometrist at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and Dan is a financial consultant for biotech companies.
And finally: Sondra Iacullo and Ken Bogursky welcomed daughter Emma Geraldine on Sept. 28, ’03.
A housekeeping note (call this the fine print, but please read it anyway!): Given the number of e-mails about engagements and pregnancies I’ve had sent to me, it looks like the columns full of weddings and babies are going to be a regular deal. But—and here’s the important bit—Cornell Alumni Magazine policy forbids printing news of either one (partly to avoid repetition) until rings are safely on your fingers (in the case of weddings) or the babies are born. Call us pessimists or call us practical—just please don’t call us and get annoyed that we haven’t printed details of your engagement! Definitely do call us—or mail or e-mail us—when you’re back from the honeymoon. Cheers. v Courtney Rubin, cbr1@cornell.edu; Sheryl Magzamen, SLM1@cornell.edu; and Allie Cahill, AlexandraCahill@aol.com.
97 | I hope this post-holiday season finds all classmates and friends well and off to a great start in the New Year! Thanks to all of those who continue to take the time to send in updates for the Class of ’97’s own little slice of Cornell Alumni Magazine, and thanks to those who continue to contribute to the class coffers by paying dues: the space we’re allotted here is directly related to the number of duespaying members we have.
2003 was quite a year for classmates Jennifer Orendorff Fitzpatrick, MBA ’02 (jlo2@cornell.edu) and husband Andy, MBA ’03 (apf2@cornell.edu). Each has an ILR and MBA degree from Cornell, having graduated in May from the Johnson School of Management together. Just five days after graduation, they welcomed son Jack Andrew into the world at the Cayuga Medical Center. The family—including dog Ezra—relocated to Belle Meade, NJ. Jennifer works at Bristol Myers as a human resources manager, while Andy works for Avaya as a finance manager. They’re the new co-chairs of the New Jersey ILR Alumni Assn. and look forward to seeing many Cornellians as a result of their involvement. (Did you notice that Jennifer has had the “jlo” handle long before Jenny from the Block made it an everyday moniker?)
Michael Perera (mwp2@cornell.edu) finished his MBA at the U. of North Carolina. Many other classmates have recently embarked on their business school careers. Colin Cushing has started work toward an MBA at Georgetown U.Wife Elizabeth (Soto-Seeling) continues to work in public relations at Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit legal aid firm in Washington. They celebrated their third wedding anniversary on October 1. Arunava Biswas (arunava.biswas@yale.edu) checked in from Yale’s Tuck School of Management, where he is a member of the class of 2005. Classmates who are now MBA candidates at U. of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business include Caryn Feinberg, John Cooper, and Matt Elias.
Jeremiah Grossman matriculated in a master’s degree program in international development in Washington, DC. He’s also completing a law degree at Penn. Having completed his law degree at Fordham U. School of Law in 2003, Akil Roper became an associate at Morristown, NJ-based Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP. Kim Messeri, MMH ’97 (kimmesseri@hotmail.com) says she’s enjoying the cushy telecommuting consulting lifestyle, working as a Web content editor/developer for CEO Consulting Inc. Her husband Ron planned to begin graduate school in January 2004; he is pursuing a master’s in information management in the AIM Business School at the U. of Texas, Dallas. The couple is building a house in McKinney, TX, and expected to move in during the fall of 2003.
Lots of news in this column from classmates getting advanced degrees in the U. of California system this issue. David Glickenstein (glickenstein@math.arizona.edu) earned his PhD in mathematics from UC San Diego, and is now an assistant professor at the U. of Arizona. Joseph Ziegelbauer (jmzcal@mac.com) received his PhD from the Dept. of Cell and Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley, in December 2002. In the summer of 2003, he married Dr. Patricia Valdez. Joseph also started a postdoctoral fellowship at UC San Francisco, and noted that although he’s a big fan of the Northern California climate and inhabitants, he misses the beautiful fall colors on the hills of Ithaca.
Elizabeth Fichtner (ejfichtner@worldnet.att.net) collected her PhD at North Carolina State U. this past year and relocated in October to work at UC Davis. Meanwhile, classmate Laura Goddard left UC Davis, where she got her PhD in entomology, and moved to Maryland to work for the National Institutes of Health, where she engineers vaccines for mosquito-borne viruses. Laura and Dan Murray conquered Half Dome in Yosemite last June. Dan moved to Toronto. Adam Hocherman (hock@hock.net) launched American Innovative LLC (www.americaninnovative.com), a consumer electronics product company specializing in products designed for college students. The company’s first offering is slated for launch in late 2004. Mya Fonarov, MS ORIE ’98 (mfonarov@hotmail.com) lives in Boston and works as a professional dancer, specializing in African dance and belly dancing. She also expects to teach hip hop in 2004. A shutterbug on campus for Reunion 2002 captured Jide Bell and Victor Borges enjoying an evening with friends at the tents on the Arts Quad; the picture appeared in the June 13, ’02 issue of the Cornell Chronicle.
First comes love, then comes marriage . . . Danielle Grundleger and Harrison Rosenberg got married on Sept. 6, ’03, in Lawrence, NY. Among the Cornellians attending were David Silverstein, Jason Bender, Jennifer Colasuonno-Schaffer and husband Ben, Bill Trenchard and wife Stephanie, Howie ’96 and Staci Harris Frauwirth, and Peter Klein ’95. Joshua Cheron (jlc12@cornell.edu) wed Jennifer Wolf-son of Syosset, NY, on Sept. 14, ’03. The couple purchased a condominium in Ashland, MA, in August. Joshua works for Accenture at Boston Scientific Corp. in Nantick, MA.
Ariane Oettinger Purdy got hitched outside Boston on Aug. 23, ’03; she’s in her second year as a master of architecture student at the U. of Texas, Austin. Adam Thompson sent in word of Brian Niles’s wedding to Meredith Armstrong in Marfa, TX. Both the bride and groom work at Goldman Sachs in London; they honeymooned in Hawaii. Dan Ury, a friend of Brian’s from high school, was a groomsman; Tom Yang, Keith Campbell, Adam Simon, and Gary Sernovitz ’95 were ushers, as was Adam. Kelli Clare Stouffer was a reader. Brian’s dad is Robert Niles ’67. Adam confirmed that the stars at night really are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas, and reported that wedding activities included skeet shooting, a first for many of the classmates attending.
Erin Cunningham ’96, MBA ’98, and Utku Yurday, MS EE ’98, got married on Dec. 21, ’02 at Willard Straight Hall. Friends spanning several class years at Cornell joined in the festivities. I’ve only got the basics to share for these two classmates’ weddings: Besheer Mohamed got married Oct. 6, ’01, and Heidi Dillman Davis got married on June 21, ’03. Caryn Feinberg also sent word of Samantha Youngman’s wedding in August 2003. Classmates attending included Beth Rothenstein, Robin Ebenstein, Josh, DVM ’01, and Rebecca Propis Baum, Julie and Andrew Schultz, Yvette Nick Montvelisky, and Marc and Ellen Goodman Stiefel; David and Lauren Kalter Hass, both ’96, and Stacey Block Rubenstein ’98 were among the other Cornellians present.
Just one new arrival to report on this time around. Congratulations to Nicole Cuda Perez and husband Rafael, who are proud parents of Olivia Marisol Perez, born on Aug. 9, ’03. Nicole also reported Joshua Cherry married Kimberly Seto on Sept. 7, ’03 in Westbury Long Island.
Change jobs? Run the Boston Marathon? Start (or finish) grad school? Bump into someone from your bio lab at your local Zinck’s night? Get married? Go skydiving with your freshman year roommate? Let us know! Your classmates want to hear about it! v Erica Broennle Nelson, ejb4@cornell.edu; Sarah Deardorff Carter, sjd5@cornell.edu. Class website: www.classof97.cornell.edu.
98 | When this column was submitted, the last remnants of summer were leaving us. No more long vacations or summer shares to go running to—it’s back to reality for most of us. At least there is still good news to report. The summer/fall of 2003 marked many a new beginning for our classmates.Wedding bells rang for some, while school bells rang for others. Five years after leaving the Hill, our cohort appears to have arrived at the “finishing-med-school, starting-business-school, getting-married”phase.
Back in July: Celebrating the US independence and the long weekend is not the only reason that Yasmin Yanthis will care about that day. This past July 4 Yasmin was married to Kendall Bailey. Yasmin is an associate in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, the Cleveland law firm. After Cornell she received her law degree from Boston U. Following not too far behind, Dr. Nathan Kruger married Dr. Avery Grauer on Sunday, July 6. They were married at the Lyman Homestead, a 19th-century house in Middlefield, CT. They are both doing their residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital with Avery concentrating in psychiatry and Nathan in internal medicine. Nathan received his medical degree from New York Medical College.
In the Midwest: James Amrine Jr. (jamrine@altair.com) is currently completing his fifth year at Altair Engineering Inc. in Dearborn, MI, where he works as a senior design engineer doing work mostly for Ford Motor Company. When he has time he fits in the occasional game of golf, and has taken up playing and building guitars, banjos, fiddles, and other assorted traditional instruments. Most of his free minutes over the past summer were used to plan for his wedding to Constance Colthorp in Ann Arbor, MI, which happened in September. He still keeps in touch regularly with Sam LaRoque (his best man), Wade McLaughlin ’99 (another groomsman), Stephanie Bell, Greig O’Brien, and Nate Wilmot, among others. James would love to hear from anyone he has not seen or heard from. Having survived her first year of business school and a summer internship in New York City,Wendy Horng started the second year of her MBA at U. of Chicago. She has decided to move back to New York City after school in June 2004 to work at Citigroup.
On the West Coast: On August 30, Jesse Lefton was married to Amit Zilberstein in Los Angeles. Cornellians present at the wedding were Sarah Lefton ’95, Erik Mulet, BFA ’97, Megan Heller, and Adina Saperstein. Jesse reports that it was a kicking good time!
Off in other countries: After spending the summer at home mowing lawns, Puneet Agrawal moved to London in September for his MBA. He is still working on his accent and on safely crossing streets (he keeps looking the wrong way). Channing Chor is taking a break from the sun and waves of California to study in Shanghai, China, for a quarter. Channing is an MBA candidate at UCLA and travels frequently to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.
In good old Ithaca and the State of New York: Amy Hargrave, MILR ’02, was married on Sept. 20 to Steve Wehrspann, Cornell’s Safety Engineer. They were married in Ithaca at Sage Chapel, with the reception at Celebrations. Amy recently left Cornell (where she worked in organizational development with the division of Administration, Facilities & Finance) to accept a position in Pittsburgh at PNC Financial Services doing executive leadership development. She moved in August, and Steve and their two cats will be joining her in October. They are buying a house in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. Back in June, Keri Goldberg married Lavi S. Ben-Zvi in Bedford Corners, NY, on June 29. Until March, Keri had been working as a consultant at Accenture.
And that brings us back to the fall of 2003. It is rather remarkable when you think about it. In the fall of 1993, most of us were working hard on our college application essays. That was before First Night on the Arts Quad, before our first trek up Libe Slope in the snow, before our collective identity as the Cornell Class of ’98, before many of the experiences on which we now look back with fondness, or cringes, or nostalgia. Years later, class correspondents are still working hard on submitting essays—now in the form of class notes—to Cornell and to you. As with those application masterpieces, we hope that these columns will get read.More importantly, we want this space to serve as a forum through which we can continue to build on our identity as a class, and to share our joys and excitement (or qualms and shocks) as we embark on new journeys and get involved in various life experiences. Okay, fine. So maybe the column serves as an excuse for a little indulgence to reminisce as well. Please continue to send news/stories/Cornellian spottings/thoughts and opinions. Happy New Year 2004, and we look forward to hearing from you! vGregg Herman, gdh5@cornell.edu; and Erica Chan, hc31@cornell.edu.
99 | I was surprised to see the statistic that in 2001, there were over 213,000 living Cornell alumni. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the entire population of Des Moines, IA (population 198,076), but falls short of Rochester, NY (population 217,158). The Cornell Facts brochure that I was reading went on to divide the percentages of Cornellians by geographic region. At the top of the list, unsurprisingly, was New York State, home to 28 percent of Cornell grads. Jessica Delaney is a member of the New York group. After finishing Albert Einstein Medical School last spring, she’s now a first-year resident in internal medicine in the Bronx. From the New York Times wedding section we learned that Laurie Beth Ehrlich married Keith Emmer on June 22, ’03 in New York City. Laurie graduated from NYU law school and is an associate at Schulte, Roth & Zabel.
Stacey Cintado works in NYC at Towers Perrin. James Grady works as a trading desk assistant manager in NYC and lives with classmates Biju Philip and Binu Thomas. James and Palak Shah visited China where they “went shopping crazy and came home with tons of custom-made suits and shirts from Hong Kong.” The pair also went boating down the Li River. Toby Ruiz writes, “After traveling through Europe and Asia for almost a year and a half I finally settled back in New York City. I’m now working for Grey Advertising as an account executive.” If you ask him where he’s been recently, the list looks something like: England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Philippines, Thailand, China, and Japan. After graduating from Brooklyn Law School, Ian Kaufman happily reports that he’s passed both the New York and New Jersey Bar exams AND fit in a nice vacation in Palm Springs.
Let’s not forget the upstaters. Suzanne Albanese teaches biology at Suffern High School and coaches the volleyball team. After a year in Richmond,VA, Erin Wayne returned to Ithaca, where this registered dietician works at CBORD.
The second largest piece of the Cornell alumni pie belongs to the Middle Atlantic region, with 17 percent of the Cornell population. Legislative assistant Amy Sandra Lee works on Capitol Hill for Congressman Gary Ackerman. This policymaker can be seen frequenting the Adams Morgan hotspot Cashion’s and coordinating volunteer activities for DC Cares. Washington, DC, is also home to Avery Sen, who’s working toward a master’s degree in Science, Technology, and Public Policy at George Washington U.’s Elliott School of International Affairs. His focus is on space and energy policy. Homero Radway’s been busy since graduation. He worked for Lehman Brothers for about two years, taught in Mexico for four months, attends Georgetown U. Business School, and just returned from an “outstanding” trip to Colombia. Homero recently accepted an offer to work in the investment banking division of CSFB.
Outside the Beltway, Jessica Colon Bejarano graduated from law school, got married, and now lives in Potomac, MD. Richmond, VA, is home to Unicia Buster. After graduate school in Visual Information Technology, Unicia’s a graphic designer for a local newspaper. Daniela Fernandez Fuentes, ME ’00, is pursuing her PhD in chemical engineering at the U. of Pennsylvania.
The “far West” is home to 13 percent of Cornell grads. After graduating from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall last May, Erica Zunkel works at the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office, east of San Francisco. Next year, she’ll be clerking for a federal judge in Santa Fe, NM. After fabulous trips to Thailand and Costa Rica, Ms. Zunkel’s enjoying life in the Bay Area and is even taking Spanish lessons. Elizabeth Hill, MS ’02, finished her master’s degree in Soil and Crop Sciences from Cornell and moved across the country to Denver, CO. She works for a company called ESRI, where she instructs people in geographic information systems (aka GIS),“which is basically using maps in the computer.” Wonder if Elizabeth ever uses GIS herself, amidst her travels to Texas, California, New Mexico, and Oregon. Elizabeth adventured with a crew of other Cornellians on a summer rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The group included Brian Markham, ME ’00, Brian Glassmeyer, ME ’00, Jen Librach, ME EE ’00, Jon Felske, Laura Maginnis, Adam Nokes, ME ’00,
Ed Kaste, ME ’00, Kristy Putnam ’01, Catie Wooten ’01, and Renee Pulver ’00. The New England region comes in next with a 12 percent Cornellian share. These suffering Red Sox fans include Brendan Lippman, who told me he’s found his true calling and is pursuing an acting career, ideally looking to land a spot on Fox’s “The OC.”While Brendan has definite heartthrob potential, I’m not sure that I believe this engineering superstar would leave his career with tech start-up Lanthorn Technologies in Boston. Congratulations to Jens Kullman on his promotion to manager of finance and accounting at LSG/Skychefs in Boston. After working as a webmaster in Boston for two different dot-com companies, Bree Herne went back to school at UMass Boston, and recently drove cross country from Los Angeles to Ithaca.
Wedding news! The lovely Meg Karamitis was married in a beautiful ceremony to Piko Nikolov in Middletown, NY. The wedding party included fellow Cornellians Betsy Karamitis ’96 and Greg Karamitis ’04.Members of the class of 1999 in attendance included Nicole D’Angelo, Cristen Viggiano, Kevin Cottrell, Chiann Bao,Mandy MacDonald, Amy S. Lee,Matt and Julie Heim Jackson, Dena Savarese, Serena Chen, Sheri Griffin Mandirola, Brendan Lippman, Mary Krabbenhoft, Heather Hollidge, and Jessica Delaney. Piko and Meg live in Cambridge, where Meg is pursuing her PhD in biostatistics at Harvard’s School of Public Health.
The Midwest and Southeastern portions of the US are tied for the fifth largest share of alums, with 9 percent each. Michael Collins Allers is the recipient of the Colin and Ailsa Turbayne International Berkeley Essay Prize administered by the U. of Rochester Dept. of Philosophy. Michael’s set to begin a doctoral program in philosophy at the U. of Michigan, where Benjamin Lee is also still in grad school. St. Louis, MO, is home to Nicole D’Angelo, a graduate student at Washington U. This budding family therapist plans to move back East after finishing her master’s degree in Social Work.
Dr. Mark Prasarn graduated in May from NYU School of Medicine and has begun his orthopedic surgery residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL. Fellow doctor Justin Nudell received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.He’s also in Florida, working at an internship at Northside Hospital and Heart Inst. in St. Petersburg. Nikki Adame, ME ’00, is a 3L at Tulane Law School. Rising from leasing agent to property manager, Mike Shanahan is moving up the ladder at his job in Atlanta, GA. He reports that “Atlanta’s economy is slowly recovering from the recession. Layoffs and business losses appear to be slowing.”
Where do the smallest percentage of Cornell graduates live? In the Southwestern US and internationally. These two regions each make up 6 percent of the total number of living alums. After stints in NYC and Hong Kong, Chiann Bao has resettled in London, where she works for an international arbitrator. This world traveler has already seen more places than the rest of us will in a lifetime; her recent travels have taken her to Belgium, Morocco, and France. Writing from Norway, Simen Haare says, “In my spare time I party, work out, and take helicopter lessons. Hopefully I will be certified by the end of the year.” Sounds like life is good for this investment banker who works for Pareto. As of April 2002, Parviz Parvizi was still working as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. He transferred to the firm’s Moscow office in the fall of 2001. Parviz has taken trips to Baku (capital city of Azerbaijan), Amsterdam, and the Caucasus Mountains for a ski trip to the town of Dombai.
As a parting note, a reunion update: Nicole DiSalvo, Courtney Benenson, Tim Mack, and Seth Singerman are leading a committee of more than 30 classmates for our 5th Reunion Campaign. Our goal is to raise $60,000 from 700 donors. We also hope to reach 70 Ivy Society members and three Tower Club members. Thank you so much to those who have already supported our efforts by making a gift to Cornell. If you haven’t had a chance to make your gift yet, please join us! Gifts can be made online at www.alumni.cornell.edu/giving/giftcard.taf?function=giftform, or call 1-800-279-3099.
Are you located in one of those underrepresented Cornellian regions of the country—or the world? Write and let us know what you’re doing! v Jen Sheldon, jsheldon@law.uconn.edu; Melanie Arzt, snoopymel@yahoo.com; Jess Smith, jessiniowa@hotmail.com.