CURRENT ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE | ADVERTISE | WRITE TO US | CORNELL AUTHORS | PAST ISSUES

2000 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

00 | Happy summer! Just think, a year from now we will have just returned from a successful and exciting 5th Reunion. I hope everyone is getting ready to head up to Ithaca in June 2005. The more, the merrier. But until we get to see each other face-to-face, here are more weddings, graduations, and corporate ladder climbing tales.

Reena Thomas recently relocated from the Bronx to Fort Worth, TX. Reena says she really misses New York, but that she has had a great experience so far in her new hometown. She has a new job as an editorial assistant for Wadsworth Publishing. Currently, Reena is working on college political science textbooks. Reena also writes that Deepak Jain is now happily married, while Eileen Martin-Yeboah works for KPMG in Montvale, NJ. She also reports that Dennis Liu is a youth pastor in Pasadena, CA, and Henry Chou is at Northwestern Law School. (On a personal note, I just wanted to say how good it was to hear from you, Reena!)

Sasha Pinero also has a new job! She writes that she manages over 800 youth volunteers for the American Red Cross in the Greater New York area. Sasha has also done a lot of traveling through Germany, Spain, Italy, and Mexico. Meanwhile, David Pearce founded All Aqua Services in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. The company is involved in rainwater collection, water filtration, water distribution, and conservation. David reports he has seen bald eagles, otter, and cougar.

How about some nuptial news? Debra Maier and Josh Fredley were married on Sept. 6, '03 in the Anabel Taylor chapel. Debra writes that their reception followed in the Statler Ballroom. The happy couple honeymooned in the Mayan Riviera! The bridal party included Jacqueline Burke Montoya, Jen Cubino, Brady Bailo, and Greg Brown. Russell Zah '01 also attended the nuptials. Another Cornell marriage involved Alyssa Walk and Justin Lipton. The two wed on Nov. 22, '03 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, and honeymooned at the Cap Juluca resort in Anguilla.

As always, we have several classmates who are working to complete graduate school. Robert Greenleaf writes that he is currently a junior at the Drexel U. School of Medicine in Philadelphia.Hilary Schroeder began medical school at the American U. of Antigua. She was part of their inauguration ceremony as well. As of now, Hilary writes that she is interested in emergency medicine or cardiovascular surgery. Olivia Fitch recently started a PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine in neuroscience. She also took a cruise last summer along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic.

In addition to doctors, we have a new crop of lawyers. Lucinda Neilon reports that she moved to Wisconsin in August 2003. She took the Bar exam and is now practicing as a labor and employment attorney for a large Wisconsin law firm. Lucinda graduated from the U. of Virginia law school in May 2003. She also had the opportunity to travel in August to Buenos Aires, Iguaza, and Rio de Janeiro. Lucinda has also been in touch with Melissa Loewenstern, who resides in New York, as well as Courtney McGrath and Sarosh Olpadwala '99, who both live in Washington, DC.

Melissa Richman graduated from the NYU Law School in May, passed the Bar exam, and is now working at Do Something, a nonprofit service-learning organization, as the coordinator of the BRICK Awards Program. Elizabeth Kronk is an attorney with Troutman Sanders LLP in Washington, DC. She writes that she lived in South Africa for four months while working for the Constitutional Litigation Unit. Elizabeth graduated from the U. of Michigan law school. She has been in touch with M.Michael Cole and Matthew Miller.

Please keep those updates coming. There are many of you we haven't heard from since graduation. Tell us what you are up to! And if you're interested in getting an alumni event together in your city or region, give us a heads-up and we can put you in touch with any of the Cornell Club branches or contact the Alumni Class Council officer closest to you. -- Sarah Striffler, sjs34@cornell.edu; and Andrea Chan, amc32@cornell.edu.

01 | Happy summer, Class of 2001! We hope it has been relaxing and treating all of you well. Here's some warming news from your classmates. Congratulations to Nicole Rubinstein and R.D. Kohut '00, JD '03, who were married this past August in Old Westbury, NY. R.D. is now practicing law in the labor/employment group at Skadden, Arps while Nicole is attending law school at Fordham, both in New York City. Congratulations to Peter Bronski and Kelli Terry, who were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ithaca on Nov. 8, '03. Their reception, which was held on the Cornell campus, was a reunion of sorts attended by their families and dearest friends, many of whom are present Cornellians or Cornell alumni. Last Call, Cornell's finest all-male a cappella group (okay, Pete's biased because he sang with Last Call during his Cornell years) performed at the wedding ceremony. Pete's younger brother Michael Bronski '04 and Kelli's younger sister Kimberly Terry '04 both just completed their senior year at Cornell.

On New Year's Eve 2003, Monica Marusceac married Ramzy C. Ayachi, a USMC helicopter pilot. For Monica, that was the cherry to top off a very exciting year. Monica is a Marine officer herself and currently in flight training. In July 2003, she was selected for advanced flight training in jets. A week after checking into her jet squadron, she met Ramzy at a bar. Though they had known each other, this was the first time they interacted socially. A little rocky at first, they hit it off so well that they were engaged five weeks after their first date and legally married within three months! They were formally united in front of family and friends at the W Hotel in New York City.

Congratulations to Melisa Canligil and Chase Twomey '00 on their wedding on March 20. They were married at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL. Chase and Melisa met during their time at Cornell and have been dating ever since. Included in the wedding party were Beth Bornstein, Robin Prindle, and Eleanor Shephard '03. Congratulations to Nathan Connell, who was officially pinned into the U. of Miami School of Medicine back in January. He was pinned by the director of the Laennec Society, the academic society within the School of Medicine. Nathan had also received his master's degree at Barry U.

A lot has been going on recently for Amy Hauke. At the beginning of the year she joined the private equity practice at McKinsey after two years in venture capital. The change has been great for her. Amy catches up with Darren Scott, who still works at Expedia, and they have been traveling together. In the fall they went to Maui, and in March they went on a cruise to Costa Rica, Belize, and Panama. The funny thing about Darren is that he just calls Amy a couple days in advance and says, "Hey, let's go!" That is typical Hotelie behavior for both of them!

From our DC Metro Bureau: On Feb. 29, '04, the first Wegman's store to open in Virginia was greeted with wall-to-wall crowds and a Class of 2001 event. Among the Cornellians in the crowd were Katherine Goulian '02, Michael Hanson, MPA '02, Grace Jean '00, Audra Lifson, Susan Mueller, ME '02, Chau Nguyen, Nathan Randall '02, Lauren Russell, MPA '99, and Suzanne Sullivan '02. The rest of us are just jealous that you all have a Wegman's to go to now!

Adam Braunschweig let us know that he received an MS in chemistry in 2003. He is now working on a PhD in molecular machinery at UCLA's department of chemistry. And while he's out in California, he's been spending his free time learning to surf. Also in California, Brooke Benlifer is living in San Diego and working as a registered dietitian at Scripps Memorial Hospitals and building an outpatient practice. She just got back from visiting friends in New Zealand. She's been spending her free time playing soccer and running, as well as traveling and being with friends and family.

Jonathan Fursman wrote to let us know that he is currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Brian Detrick checked in from Miami Beach, FL. And Carlin Young tells us that he is currently unemployed, with no prospects, and living in South Carolina. Anyone want to lend a hand?

Do you have any news for your classmates? Let us know so we can write about it! E-mail us at classof2001@cornell.edu. Have a great summer! -- Lauren Wallach, LEW15@cornell.edu; and Itai Dinour, id22@cornell.edu.

02 | Cheers, everyone! Let me introduce myself.My name is Carolyn Deckinger and I am stoked to be writing my first column as your newly inducted Class Correspondent. It is an honor to be the voice linking our lives together and spreading the Cornell love across the globe. At Cornell I studied psychology, was philanthropy chair of Theta, and was a member of our 13-time League Champion Tae Kwon Do club. I have been living in Beantown since graduation and work for a leadership development firm. I will most likely be attending Columbia U. grad school for social-organizational psychology in the fall, so it's back to New York for me. And just when Curt Shilling got here! It is so interesting for me to read about what people are up to, and it's especially delightful to recognize your names. The learning about our classmates doesn't have to stop when we leave the Hill. Consider me your networking contact/roommate locator/ matchmaker. And now, without further self-promotion . . . let the games begin.

In late 2003 Michael Nestor spent two months assisting with the opening of a new resort on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas, followed by the opening of the Four Seasons' first ski resort in Jackson Hole,WY. Thanks to his new promotion at Miller Brewing Company as an operations workgroup manager, Patrick Spann has moved to sunny Pasadena, CA. "If anybody is curious what an operations workgroup manager means," he says, "or is in the L.A. area and wants a free beer or two (or 20)," give Pat a call at (626) 823-5046. "Take it easy, and cheers!" he writes. Um, Pat, I hope you have a spacious guest room.

Scott Belsky is enjoying city life as well as his writing and other entrepreneurial projects. "I definitely feel the Cornell presence in New York City and love it! I am still employed by Goldman Sachs and have had the opportunity to focus on rather interesting projects. I hope everyone is well!" Nicholas Talbot was promoted to 1st lieutenant in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in December 2003. Currently he is serving in Iraq as a Cavalry Scout Platoon Leader, deployed in April 2003. Meghan Britt is working as an account executive at Westwood One Inc., a division of Viacom. Andrew Luria is still working at KIEM-TV in Eureka, CA, as a sports anchor and reporter for an NBC affiliate. He also writes a sports column that is published in various newspapers throughout the country.

"Greetings, classmates!" writes an always cheery Heather Petersen,MAT '03. "It was great seeing many of you in Ithaca at Homecoming '03. I have spent the past four months living in Boston, MA, and teaching math and science after spending one year at Cornell obtaining my MAT.My most exciting news is that, by the time you read this, I will be in South Africa with the Peace Corps! If all goes well, I will be living in the Northwest province and working in the field of math education until April 2006. I look forward to seeing many of you at reunion!" Rebecca Pizzitola completed a ten-month run with Americorps NCCC, a "life-changing and enriching experience." She now finds herself fixin' to move to Raleigh with the eventual plan of attending UNC for her MPH.

Malcolm Brown,MS '03, just returned from the wedding of Meghna Bhambore, MA HE, in Delhi, India. "It was a spectacular five-day occasion with ceremonies, amazing food, dancing, and celebration. A warm appreciation goes out to the Bhambore and Jain families for their generosity and hospitality." Michael Pattison is an EMT in Syracuse and a paramedic student.Michael's fiancee is Melissa Hazard, also of CALS. Go go go Cornell weddings! Jen Zimmer is working in Waltham, MA, for Hewitt Associates. Fiancé Art Nitkowski works in Lexington,MA, at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. I actually ran into the happy couple at the Cornell-Harvard hockey game here in Cambridge in January (Cornell won 5-3).

Matthew Stedinger finished up his software development job in Oak Ridge, TN, working on the Spallation Neutron Source. He is now back in Ithaca getting his MEng in Computer Science. Kate Brewer is a first year law student at New York Law School. Jae Yeo shouts, "Greetings from Los Angeles!"He has just started his second quarter at the UCLA School of Dentistry, and everything's great. He has enjoyed randomly encountering fellow Cornellians in L.A. traffic.

"Hi!" shouts Chris LaBrutto, who is presently working in Busan, South Korea, teaching English at a Korean-English language institute. He is also studying the Korean language. If you're interested in such a job, contact Chris at Labrutto@hotmail.com. Morgan Grey is currently teaching Latin to middle-schoolers at two public schools in Cranford, NJ. "My administration and faculty are all very supportive, and my students amuse me almost every day."

As the weather heats up I am drawn back to Ithaca, where I spent two of my most treasured summers. Nothing beats Ithaca in the summer. Nothing. No need to wait until reunion, people. Ruloff 's awaits. If you've sent in updates you don't see here, no worries! You will be listed in a future issue. Send news to -- Carolyn Deckinger, cmd35@cornell.edu; and Elizabeth Richards, elizabethlauren_richards@yahoo.com.

03 | Hello, fellow classmates! It's official, we've been out for more than a year! The class of '03 has been up to a lot, so without further ado, I'll get to the updates.

Alex Fineman wrote to let us know that he is living in Connecticut and working at ESPN as the lead researcher for their baseball broadcasts. However, he laments that "nobody here knows anything about college hockey."Hopefully, his fellow sports journalists back at the Daily Sun are keeping him up to date on college sports. While we're thinking about sports, an update from Christopher Lewis notes that he is still playing tennis while working at a production company in New York City.

Meanwhile, Ursula Duran has traveled to the UK and is a graduate student at Oxford U. in St. Catherine's College. She's having a great time in their Latin American Studies program. Jennifer Paugh has also traveled abroad; she's finishing up her second semester of veterinary school at St. George's U. in Grenada,West Indies. In fact, many in our class are on their way to becoming veterinarians. Kendra Flood is at Colorado State U. College of Veterinary Medicine. She's already doing great things and is the Class of 2007 Vice President and a Student American Veterinary Assn. delegate. Kimberly Huppe is Class of '07 at the Tufts U. School of Veterinary Medicine.

Stephanie Potisek finished an internship over the summer at GE Global Research Center and is now a graduate student in organic chemistry at the U. of Illinois. Lydia Nussbaum is teaching history at a high school outside Washington, DC. Jason Higginbotham has also moved to DC, and is attending George Washington U. Law School.

Ashley Walker has a new job with United Health Group out of Winston-Salem, NC, and writes that Crystal Hall is going to graduate school at the U. of Pennsylvania to study Italian. Ashley also reports that Eva Fowler is the quality control supervisor for Kraft Foods in Walton, NY. Also in the food business, JoAnna DeBlock is working as a retail management trainee for Hannford Bros. Food and Drug, where she is training to be assistant store manager in the lower Lake George/Saratoga area of New York State. On the flip side from food business, Michael Norman is living in Oakland, CA, and writes that he is "currently working in the recycling and solid waste industry for the city of Hayward, CA."

In the restaurant and hotel world, Daniel Lachs is working as restaurant operations manager for Houston's restaurants on 27th and Park in Manhattan. Allison Tarr is a manager at Jardiniere restaurant in San Francisco. Rachel Money has purchased a home in Richardson, TX, to share with her dog Kibi. She writes, "Manuel gave me a new motorcycle. So far we've logged about 2,000 miles riding through Texas."Yee-ha! Eva Moore is the assistant food and beverage manager at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, and Keith Menin writes, "I am just about ready to open up my new boutique hotel/restaurant/spa in South Beach called The Sanctuary."

I ran into Dan Benjoya at the training for the Fund for Public Interest's summer canvass directors in Boston. He's just getting started in the social change movement and will be assistant directing the Boston canvass office this summer and raising a huge amount of money! It's great to hear from all of you! Keep us updated on your summer travels and exciting news. We look forward to sharing your stories with the rest of the Cornell community. -- Sudha Nandagopal, sn58@cornell.edu; Samantha Buckingham, swb9@cornell.edu.

04 | I hope you are all enjoying your first summer as college graduates. I am sure some of you are trekking around Europe, while others have started their careers. I just wanted to give you a few friendly reminders since we've left the Hill.

You should get your e-mail forwarded to your new accounts. You can do this at http://www.cuconnect.cornell.edu/qry/ForwardNew.qry. This is a great way to stay connected to Cornell, and it looks more professional than FunnyScreenName@yahoo.com on your resumé.

• Remember to have any transcripts forwarded to graduate or professional schools.
• Remember to UNSUBSCRIBE to any listserves that you no longer want to receive e-mail from.
• Update your information in the online Alumni Directory.
• Close your bank account so you are not charged inactivity fees.
• Contact your local Cornell Club or other alumni organizations. To learn more go to http://orgs.alumni.cornell.edu/.
• Create/Update your Credentials File at http://www.career.cornell.edu/credentialServices/default.html.

The Alumni Class Council would like to welcome Casey Wieser as our Co-Vice President of Affinities. She wanted to tell you all a little bit about herself. Casey: "I am from Westport, CT, and majoring in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering.Working for reunions during the past three years has shown me the impact Cornell can have. As I move on to NYC, where I will work for CSFB, I look forward to continuing my involvement with Cornell. I hope the Class of 2004 can prove to be as successful as the countless impressive alumni classes who have come before us!"

Now that you are all settled, write and tell me what you are doing. Everyone is curious! Enjoy the rest of the summer! -- Vanessa Matsis, vgm3@cornell.edu.

Return to top of page