Roy Lee, BA ’91, is executive producer of the blockbuster film The Departed, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, directed by Martin Scorsese – and the best picture winner at the Academy Awards. The film is a remake of the Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs and is set in Boston. Mob crime and police detective work intertwine as undercover agents infiltrate both worlds. The Departed won four Oscars, including best picture, directing, film editing, and writing (adapted screenplay).

Lee grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. After earning his bachelor’s degree from GW, he earned a law degree from American University and worked briefly as a corporate attorney. In 1996, Lee moved to Hollywood to pursue a film career. His first job was working for the production company Alphaville, where he worked on films like The Mummy and Michael.

In 2001, Lee founded Vertigo Entertainment with Doug Davidson. The production company initially had a first-look production agreement with Miramax/Dimension Films, but in 2004 signed a multi-year deal with Universal Studios and Focus Features. The producers’ first film, The Ring, was a wildly successful horror flick based on the Japanese Ringu. It grossed more than $249 million.

Lee, a Korean-American, has brought several successful film remake ideas to the U.S. from Asian countries. He has imported films from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand, selling their rights to U.S. movie studios on behalf of their Asian distribution companies. The Departed, his most critically-acclaimed film, has grossed more than $131 million to date.

Tasha Burwinkle, BA ’96, is currently an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Texas A&M School of Medicine. She also serves as the research manager and resident educator for the Children’s Hospital at Scott and White in Temple, Texas, managing the faculty and resident research in the department and designing curriculum (both research curriculum and medical simulation curriculum) for the residents. Her research focuses on quality of life in children with chronic health conditions (including designing and implementing behavioral interventions for kids with asthma and diabetes). She has also co-authored more than 35 peer-review publications and six book chapters.

Melvyn Monzack, JD ’65, has been named treasurer of Democratic Senator Joe Biden’s Presidential Campaign. Monzack is Biden’s longtime friend and served as his 2002 Senate reelection treasurer. He is a partner in the law firm Walsh, Monzack and Monaco, P.A., in Wilmington, Delaware.

Merv Conn, BA ’40, Washington accordion legend, is depicted in the documentary The Legend of Merv Conn, directed by Jeff Krulik. The documentary is a tribute to Conn’s remarkable life and work; a screening of the film was held in February in Silver Spring, Maryland, in celebration of his 87th birthday.

Pam Jenoff, BA ’92, a Holocaust expert, has written a debut novel that takes place during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The Kommandant’s Girl, a fictional story about a wife of a member of the Jewish resistance, is being published this month by MIRA Books. In the past, Jenoff served as vice-counsel for the U.S. State Department in Krakow as well as special assistant to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. She has been honored by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad for her work, such as the preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland.

Ryan Serote, MBA ’04, has been appointed chief of congressional and legislative affairs of the Bureau of Reclamation. In this position, Serote serves as Reclamation’s primary liaison with Congress. Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the U.S., and the nation’s second largest producer of hydroelectric power.

Karen Bonn, BAE ’72, was recently appointed to the position of senior vice president for the Employee Stock Ownership Plans Services Group of the GreatBanc Trust Company. Bonn works in the New York City office, and is responsible for business development and investment management services.