Fil J. Arenas, Ed.D. ’05, accepted a position with the United States Air Force Air University’s Squadron Officer College as professor of organizational leadership studies. Since retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2005 as a lieutenant commander, medical service corps officer, Arenas has served as an adjunct professor for Midwestern State University, Webster University, and Wayland Baptist University in the Texas/Oklahoma region.

Michelle Bufano, MAT ’98, was recently appointed executive director of the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, Wash. Bufano served as interim executive director for 16 months before officially assuming the role. She previously has worked at the Museum of Glass and Tacoma Art Museum and was an adjunct professor at the University of Washington. Pratt provides arts education and studio space in Seattle’s Central District.

Patricia Clark, MA ’02, was recently appointed principal of Luther W. Machen Elementary School in Hampton, Va., where she has served as assistant principal since 2002. Clark was named Virginia’s assistant principal of the year in 2005 and has more than 18 years of teaching experience.

Jin Lee, Maccy, Arlington, Va., joined the firm Clifton Gunderson’s Washington, D.C., office as senior associate in the commercial practice. Lee is an expert in audit procedures.

Thomas E. Sawner, Ed.D. ’00, graduate of the Executive Leadership Program in Human Resource Development, presented “Best Practices of Award-Winning Small Businesses” to more than 500 business owners as the keynote speaker at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce America’s Small Business Summit 2007. Sawner’s top-rated presentation drew insights from an analysis of best practices of the 60 small business award finalists, as well as from his doctoral dissertation, which examined the strong and predictive relationship between certain aspects of an organization’s culture and the organization’s performance. Sawner is president and CEO of Educational Options, Inc., an education technology company headquartered in Arlington, Va.

William Schrag, BA ’75, has joined Dewey Ballantine LLP, a leading international law firm, as a partner in the Corporate Reorganization and Bankruptcy Group resident in the New York office. Schrag, formerly a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, has broad experience in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and commercial litigation.

Daniel M. Serviss, BA ’93, has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for the second consecutive year. The “Rising Stars” edition of Super Lawyers highlights up-and-coming attorneys who are either 40 or younger or have practiced law for 10 years or less. Serviss, an attorney with Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. on the Family Law Team, focuses his practice on family law involving issues of divorce, child custody, domestic partnerships, adoptions and domestic violence. He has published numerous articles for the New Jersey Family Lawyer and has lectured extensively on family law issues.

Brian Walters, MBA ’93, was promoted to vice president of Europe, Middle East, and Africa Operations for J.D. Power and Associates in June. Located in Guildford, Surrey, near London, the position is responsible for all quality and customer satisfaction research throughout the EMEA region. The office conducts research in a variety of industries including automotive, retail banking, telecommunications, and utilities. He has worked for J.D. Power and Associates for 10 years and was transferred to the UK office three years ago.

Karen M. Waranch, MA ’99, has been named the new Washington/Baltimore regional director of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

She will be responsible for expanding the donor base for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in the Baltimore and Washington regions, as well as implementing programs and events that raise awareness and visibility for the University’s role in spearheading development of the Negev and academic and research excellence.

Before earning her master’s, Waranch spent a year working in the Jewish community of Donetsk, Ukraine with the Jewish Agency program AMITIM. There she provided free English courses and Jewish holiday programs to build relationships with Jewish communities that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Valerie A. Yarashus, BA ’87, has been elected treasurer of the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) for 2007-08. Yarashus, who lives in Holliston, Mass., is a principal in the firm of Sugarman & Sugarman PC, Boston, where she concentrates in plaintiff’s trial practice and a wide variety of other general liability cases.

An active leader in the MBA, Yarashus served two terms as vice president. Yarashus spearheaded the MBATask Force on Diversity in 2005-06 and continues to chair this committee that works to increase diversity in the law profession and encourage young, minority students to consider legal careers.

In September 2006, she was inducted into the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Up-and-Coming Lawyers Hall of Fame. In 2005 and 2006, she was recognized by Boston Magazine, in conjunction with Law and Politics, as one of the top 50 female attorneys in Massachusetts and as a “Super Lawyer” in the area of personal injury law. Yarashus earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1990.