Alumni
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Accomplished | In
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Julian
Stein, BS ’50,
was elected to the Wakefield High School Hall
of Fame in Arlington, Va., in June. He taught
physical education and coached at the school
for 11 years and was one of the original faculty
members of the school, which dates back to 1953.
He is most noted for coaching several individual
state champions and teams in track and cross
country.
After graduating from GW,
Dorothy Camer, BS ’52,
received advanced degrees, both in physical chemistry,
from Clarkson and Oregon State Universities.
After retiring and returning to D.C., she focused
on applying her scientific and computer knowledge
on designing a traffic system to “free
us from auto dependency.” She self-published
CarFree Mobility: How a
Community Can Kick its Auto Dependency,” which is available at
the GW Bookstore.
Eunice
Book Hirsch, BA ’57, has lived in
St. Petersburg, Fla., since 1968. After graduating
from GW, she taught high school and attended
the University of Miami Graduate School of Education.
Her husband is a psychiatrist in private practice,
and their son and daughter-in-law live nearby.
She has served as a civic volunteer and mentor. “My
education at GW was superb,” she writes.
For the past few years, Richard
Marks, MA ’58,
has taught government and politics courses as
an adjunct faculty member of Essex, Dundalk,
Catonsville, and Anne Arundel Community Colleges.
He also taught for the Navy’s Program for
Afloat College Education aboard ships, including
twice in the Persian Gulf. He resides in Gambrills,
Md.
With his co-author and wife,
Nelly, Gus A. Mellander,
BA ’59, MA ’60, PhD ’66, toured
and lectured in Madrid and Rome in June to promote
their latest book, Charles
Magoon: The Panama Years. Mellander will retire from George Mason
University in January, an event he says he is
dreading. The couple will reside in Palm Beach,
Fla.
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2005 Table of Contents
Robert
A. Kemp, BA ’64,
received the J. Shipman Gold Medal Award from
the Institute for Supply Management in May. He
received the honor at the ISM’s 90th annual
conference in San Antonio.
“Why retire when I can sit in front of
a roaring fire and cyber edit?” asks Valerie
Josephson, BA ’65.
She does just that as managing editor of the
American Journal of Industrial
Medicine, a peer-reviewed
medical publication that focuses on occupational
and environmental epidemiology. The journal went “live” on
the Internet in June, allowing authors
to submit manuscripts, reviewers to send comments,
and editors to make editorial decisions. Josephson
enjoys traveling, recently visiting Death Valley
on a cycling trip. In June, she visited her daughter,
Jennie Josephson, BA ’98,
in Santa Maria, Calif., where she was associate
producer for CBS News coverage of the Michael
Jackson trial.
Retired as of 2001 from Delta
Airlines after nearly 30 years, James
Hoogerwerf, BA ’66,
now is pursuing a postgraduate degree in history
from Auburn University.
The Creative Capital Foundation,
a national arts organization, awarded Peggy
Diggs, BA ’68,
a grant to pursue her project, Work Out. The
project seeks to “produce designs for problem-solving
objects for tight living spaces” and will
draw on input from prison inmates from Graterford
Prison in Pennsylvania. Diggs is a lecturer in
arts and humanities at Williams College.
Sanford
Stone, BA ’68, is a self-employed
consultant with the Latin American Division of
the State Department. During the past two years,
he has traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá,
Colombia, working on the Plan Colombia project.
The Greater Washington/Virginia
Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America
named Michael S. Wolly,
BA ’69, JD ’72,
its president. He previously served on the chapter’s
board of directors and was its vice president
for development. The organization aims to help
find a cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative
colitis through research and to improve the quality
of life for individuals affected by the digestive
diseases through education and support. A partner
with the Washington firm Zwerdling, Paul, Kahn & Wolly,
he specializes in labor and employment law representing
the interests of employees and labor unions.
Wolly and his wife, Valentine Nazarian, have
three sons.
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David
R. Berz, BA ’70,
JD ’73, was appointed to the New York Board
of Overseers for Hebrew Union College—Jewish
Institute of Religion. He is a partner of the
Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges,
where he heads the firm’s environmental
group and focuses on the bankruptcy practice.
Berz is an authority on U.S. and international
environmental law and was recognized by Chambers
Publications as a leading lawyer in his field.
He is the co-author of a three-volume environmental
treatise, Environmental
Law in Real Estate and Business Transactions. Berz is active in numerous
Jewish organizations in the Washington area and
is former president of Washington Hebrew Congregation.
Dirk
van Allen, MA ’70, has been named
the recipient of Actors’ Equity Association’s
2005 Lucy Jordan Award. Van Allen, who has been
a member of the association since 1992, was scheduled
to receive the award at the upcoming Equity membership
meeting in Los Angeles on October 7, 2005, in
recognition of his contributions to the Austin,
Texas, theatre community. He has been a member
of many Austin theater companies, including The
Austin Shakespeare Festival. He currently is
in production at Don Toner’s Austin Playhouse
for A Man of All Seasons. Van Allen also won
a distinguished alumni achievement award from
Centre College in Danville, K.Y., in 2003. He
spent his career as a financial executive, most
recently with Morgan Keenan, and has been a stock
broker, and a naval officer.
Anne
(Shoob) Kelly, MA ’71, CEO and director
of the Federal Consulting Group, part of the
U.S. Department of the Treasury, was appointed
to the board of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award. In addition to a successful
federal career, she holds volunteer leadership
positions with Northern Virginia Healthy Families,
the Historic Alexandria Foundation, and the Virginia
Opera, among others.
After several years of working
in China and Russia, Lindsay
Gardner, BA ’72, returned to the
United States with her family five years ago.
She now lives in Denver with her husband and
their daughter, Kendall, and reports that she
is “enjoying life in the mile-high city.” Gardner
is vice president of Isonics Corp., a public
company focused on developing technology for
homeland security and semiconductor markets.
Her husband, Hank Eng, is the Asia regional director
for Champion Aerospace.
Previously chairman of the
National Council of Arts & Sciences for Columbian College, Charles
W. Weiss, BA ’72, became mayor of the Village
of Flower Hill, N.Y., in February.
John
P. Ferguson, MBA ’73, president and
CEO of Hackensack University Medical Center and
chairman of the board of Martha’s Vineyard
Hospital, was presented with an Honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters degree from Felician College.
He delivered the commencement address before
350 graduates of the college in May. Among many
other awards and accolades, Ferguson is a 2002
recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
The International Academy
of Trial Lawyers inducted Richard
Marmaro, BA ’73, as a fellow in
April. Marmaro is a partner in the Los Angeles
office of Proskauer Rose, where he specializes
in SEC enforcement litigation and white collar
criminal defense. He also is co-chairman of the
lawyers delegation to the Ninth Circuit Judicial
Conference and is past president of the Los Angeles
Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
The City of San Antonio presented
former San Antonio Mayor and U.S. Housing and
Urban Development Department Secretary Henry
Cisneros, DPA ’76,
DL ’84, and his wife, Mary Alice
Cisneros, were the recipients of the Pioneer
Award for Excellence in Housing Initiative
during the 2005 Housing Summit Awards reception.
The award recognizes their promotion of community
organizing, home ownership, education, revitalization,
and the development of livable neighborhoods.
Cisneros is the founder and chairman of American
CityVista. He also is the winner of the Common
Ground Award for Bipartisan Cooperation for
working with fellow former secretary of Housing
and Urban Development Jack Kemp to create a
bipartisan national housing agenda.
Henry
Lowenstein, MBA ’76, dean of the
School of Business and Public Administration
at California State Bakersfield, was elected
chairman of the California State University Association
of Business Deans. The association represents
the 23 state university business deans and directors
in California along with affiliated business
deans of the University of California system.
The Federation of Jewish Women’s Organizations
of Maryland presented Maxine
A. Cohen, BA ’77,
with its Who is Wise Award at its 89th annual
convention in May. The honor was given for “selfless
work and care for the community,” specifically
pro bono efforts on behalf of the Levindale Hebrew
Geriatric Center and Hospital in Baltimore. For
21 years, she has been a freelance copywriter
specializing in direct response marketing and
fundraising, with clients including the Enoch
Pratt Free Library and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum. She resides in Baltimore with her husband
and would enjoy hearing from friends at copybymax@comcast.net.
Jack
Dembow, MHSA ’79, was appointed president
and CEO of the Jewish Family and Children’s
Service of Greater Philadelphia. For more than
150 years, the organization has supported the
needs of Jewish families, individuals, and children
throughout the Delaware Valley. With more than
25 years of health care community experience,
his previous service includes simultaneous appointments
as vice president of the Jefferson Health System
and Einstein Health Network. Dembow previously
was CEO of Belmont Behavioral Health.
The Society for Human Resource
Management has appointed Keith
Greene, BBA ’79, as its
vice president for member relations. He has been
with the organization for 12 years and previously
was director of organizational programs. Greene
is a board member for Center for Disease Control’s
Business and Labor Responds to AIDS group and
also the Friends of the National Zoo.
In July, Lydia
A. Rice, MBA ’79, went to
France with the Washington Chorus, performing
in the southern region as well as Lyon and Paris.
Rice is an accountant for the Department of Justice
and resides in Rockville, Md.
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Jeffrey
Nash, BA ’80, received the Pro-Beneficio-Dato
Distinguished Public Service Award at Camden
County College’s commencement ceremony
in May. The award is presented annually to individuals
who demonstrate high levels of service to the
college and their community. Nash is an attorney
with Cozen O’Connor.
From April 29 to May 10, Thomas
Curtis, BA ’81,
MS ’95, and his wife, Stephanie, were part
of People to People International’s Global
Peace Initiative in Egypt, a delegation of nearly
200. The mission of the trip was to learn about
the culture and lifestyle of Egypt and its people
and to promote peace. Curtis and his wife reside
in Rockville, Md.
Recently moving to the Baltimore-Washington
area after living in Tennessee and Georgia, Melanie
Richardson, BA ’81, is pursuing a career
as an information analyst. She previously worked
in public relations and technical writing and
earned a Master of Arts degree in art history
from Vanderbilt University.
James
Antonio, MA ’83, was appointed vice
president for enrollment management at the University
of New Haven and began work in July. He previously
was vice president for enrollment management
at Frostburg State University in Maryland.
In November, Joseph
Scafetta Jr., MBA ’83,
was named special counsel to the intellectual
property firm Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt
in Alexandria, Va. He resides in Falls Church,
Va.
From 1991 to 1993, Oldemar
Tello, BS ’84,
worked as a contractor with PriceWaterhouse in
Saudi Arabia. He now is a certified senior project
manager with IBM.
Robert
W. Whiting, MBA ’85, is vice president
of strategic engagements at Avue Technologies,
which provides Web-based digitized human resource
services to federal government agencies. He is
retired as the deputy director of the office
of human resources management of the Department
of Agriculture.
As director of the library
at Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., Andrew
V. Armstrong, BA ’87,
oversaw the planning and construction of a new,
40,000-square-foot library facility that opened
last year.
A resident of Chevy Chase,
Md., where she lives with her husband and two
children, Bonnie
(Genkin) Green, MA ’87, was
promoted to assistant general counsel of Sodexho
Inc., in Gaithersburg, Md.
William
J. Lutz, BA ’89, joined Tucker
Ellis & West as counsel in its Los Angeles
office in March. He is a member of the firm’s
trial department and practices in insurance coverage.
Lutz is a member of the Orange County Bar Association
as well as the State Bars of California, New
York, and New Jersey.
In Boston, Mintz, Levin, Cohn,
Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo named James
Wodarski, BA ’89,
a partner of the firm. He practices in the litigation
section and his trial experience includes complex
business litigation, trademark litigation, products
liability, and intellectual property.
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Ashley
(Suhler) Tobin, BA ’90,
MPA ’04, and Robert
Tobin, BA ’92,
were married in November in Washington. They
reside in Arlington, Va.
A senior intelligence analyst
for Science Applications International Corp.
in McLean, Va., where he supports the U.S. Intelligence
Community’s
National Counterterrorism Center, Jeff
Johnson, BA ’91, is a captain with the Navy Reserve
Intelligence Command. He has served the Navy
for more than 30 years.
A resident of Toledo, Ohio,
Peverly Jo Hormann, BA ’92, is editor of Exchange
Today, a
publication of the National Exchange Club. The
club is an all-volunteer, national service organization
for those seeking to serve their community, develop
leadership skills, and enjoy new friendships.
It is made up of 850 clubs and 28,000 members
throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
The University of Virginia
Patent Foundation has bestowed its highest honor,
the Edlich-Henderson Inventor of the Year Award,
on John Hunt, MD ’92,
and colleague Benjamin M. Gaston. The two pediatricians
develop medical devices to diagnose and treat
lung disease, particularly asthma. Hunt is assistant
professor of pediatrics at the University of
Virginia’s School of Medicine.
In 2003, Marika
Luiso, MA ’93, moved to
Wellington, New Zealand, and now is a senior
strategic policy analyst with the New Zealand
Customs Service.
A resident of Gaithersburg,
Md., Scott V. Nystrom, PhD ’93, was appointed executive director
for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging,
to be held in Washington. The conference, held
every 10 years, is designed to develop research
and action recommendations for America’s
older workers and retirees.
Emily
Danyluk, BA ’94, completed a Master
of Science in economics degree at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. In March, she left for
Kazakhstan as a member of the Peace Corps.
Leigh
Evanson, MA ’94, was promoted to
director of the International Health Group at
Chemonics International. She resides in Washington.
Habitat for Humanity of Colorado
appointed Stefka Czarnecki
Fanchi, BA ’94, its executive
director. She and her husband, Jeff, have two
children: Isabella Marie and Naomi Felicitas,
who was born in September 2004.
Elizabeth
Gromada, BA ’94, completed a
Master of Education in secondary education degree
from Xavier University and runs a concierge business
from her home. She also directs the marketing
department of her husband’s catering business.
Gromada has two children, 8-year-old Konrad and
9-month-old Karenna.
On July 1, twins Aden and
Maille were born to Amanda
(Wilton) Ianniruberto, BA ‘’94,
and A. Michael Ianniruberto,
BA ’94.
In May, Jana
I. Preis, BS ’94, MPH ’97,
graduated from medical school and started a residency
training program in internal medicine at Maimonides
Medical Center in New York. She produces and
anchors the weekly medical program MEDEXPRESS
on international Russian cable channel RTN-WMNB.
At the American Medical Student Association’s
50th Conference, she received an award for a
research project in the category of community
health and preventive medicine.
Shawn
Raymond, BA ’94, was elected partner
at Susman Godfrey in Houston. In June, he was
named a “rising star” by Texas
Monthly;
in December he was named a “lawyer on the
fast track” by H Texas
Magazine.
While pursuing an advanced
degree in information technology at the Stevens
Institute of Technology, Colleen
Gibney, MA ’95, works on university-industry
technology collaboration and commercialization
for the City University of New York.
CBS Evening
News with Dan Rather featured Stephen
Vivien, MPA ’95, in a story about President
Bush’s proposal to privatize social security,
to which Vivien is opposed. He is the lead plaintiff
in a lawsuit against MCI Worldcom regarding employee
401(k) plans.
Todd
Dennett, BA ’96, earned a Master of
Business Administration degree from the University
of Washington in March. He accepted a position
in global health advocacy with the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation in Seattle.
In New York in November, Karin
Weinberg, BA ’96,
and Ben Eyler, BA ’95, were married. Weinberg
is a producer with ABC Network News in New York.
In July, K.
David Burns, BA ’97, traveled
to Benin, West Africa, to serve as an English
teacher and HIV awareness and prevention educator
for the Peace Corps. Burns recently graduated
with the dual degrees of Juris Doctor and Bachelor
of Civil Law from Louisiana State University
Law School.
Craig
Johnson, MA ’97, was detailed from
the National Nuclear Security Administration
to the House of Representatives Homeland Security
Committee to serve as a nuclear terrorism policy
adviser. He resides in Arlington, Va.
Director of internet Services
for auction house EAC Gallery in Roslyn Heights,
N.Y., Brad Shafran, BA ’98, was married in June to Allison
Kamler. They reside in Hewlett, N.Y.
In October 2004, Marc
J. Birnbaum, BA ’99,
married Katherine E. Stott, whom he met at Tulane
Law School. Groomsmen included Oscar
H. Jovel Jr., BA ’99, and Jason
R. Cohen, BA ’00,
MBA ’02. The best man was David
P. Mason, BA ’00. Birnbaum and his wife reside in
Reston, Va., and both are employed as assistant
commonwealth’s attorneys (state prosecutors)
in Fairfax County, Va.
Jill
Hasegawa, BA ’99, recently joined
the firm Ashford & Wriston as an associate.
She resides in Honolulu.
After recently earning an
International Masters of Business Administration
from the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business,
Jason McKellar, BA ’99, accepted a position
with the program management office of Citigroup’s
Technology Infrastructure Division in New York.
After graduating with a Master
of Science in Education in elementary education
degree from Hunter College in New York, where
she was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, Stacey
Shubitz, BA ’99,
now is working on a degree in literacy at Columbia
University’s Teacher’s College and
teaching fifth grade in East Harlem.
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When men’s
basketball alumnus Antxon Iturbe, BA ’01,
and gymnast alumna Becca Gruber, BBA ’01,
married July 9 in Massachusetts, many
other Colonials attended the festivities.
(Back row, from left:) Scott Lurie,
BBA ’00; Jeff Kaiser, BA ’00;
basketball alumnus Rasheed Hazzard,
BA ’98; volleyball alumna Julie
Jahnke, BA ’01; groom Iturbe
and bride Gruber; Margie Cunningham,
head gymnastics coach; Meena Flynn
BA ’99; gymnastics alumnae Lindsey
Ferris BS ’01 and Lori Chaitman
BA ’96, MBA ’99; and maid
of honor, gymnastics alumna Lisa Gruber,
BA ’98. Also in attendance but
not pictured was athletic academic
coordinator Karen Ercole.
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David
Fiscus, MA ’00,
works at the Department of Commerce Export Assistance
Center in Salt Lake City. He and his wife, Emaline
(Mills) Fiscus, had a baby boy, Ralph, in January.
A resident of Houston, Joshua
Keidan, BA ’00,
reports that during “an exciting five years” after
graduation, he has volunteered with the Magan
David Adom ambulance service for six months.
For a year and a half, he visited Korea, where
he taught English in a hagwon, similar to a private
institute, as well as volunteered in an orphanage.
Residing in Manhattan, Benjamin
Mastaitis, BA ’00,
is an attorney. He is an avid runner.
Stefanie
Greenberg, BBA ’01, was promoted
to marketing manager at Dow Jones in New York,
where she is responsible for marketing of venture
capital business-to-business databases, newsletters,
publications, and conferences. This is her second
promotion within a year and a half at the company.
Residing
in Washington, Anslie Stokes,
BBA ’01,
is a licensed realtor with Best Address Real
Estate and practices in Washington and Maryland.
In June, the Development Gateway
Foundation in Washington promoted Deborah
L. Holston, MS ’02,
to the position of chief financial officer. She
joined the foundation in January 2004 as a controller.
She previously spent five years at public accounting
and technology consulting firm Tate and Tryon.
Joel
Kennedy, MBA ’02, relocated to San
Diego, where he is senior operations manager
with Capital One Auto Finance. He has climbed
Mount Whitney and is training to complete the
AIDS Lifecycle, a 585-mile bike event from San
Francisco to Los Angeles.
A resident of Jacksonville,
Fla., where he recently purchased a home, Craig
H. Lipinski, MBA ’02,
accepted a position as a financial consultant
with Resources Global Professionals. He is studying
for his chartered financial analyst exam. A recent
consulting engagement was working for Winn-Dixie,
helping with the asset rationalization initiative
and company restructuring.
After a two-year hiatus to
raise her son, Benjamin, Jyl
Safier, MBA ’02, began a career as
co-founder of a social venture capital investment
fund where she is executive administrator and
director of communications. They closed their
first fund in the first quarter of 2005 and will
invest in businesses in New Mexico.
Mark
SooHoo, BA ’02, was named a “rising
star” in politics by Campaigns & Elections
Magazine. He is vice president at Campaign Solutions,
a firm in Alexandria, Va., that focuses on online
political consulting and fundraising for national
candidates and organizations.
In November in Barnesville,
Md., Julie K. (Butler) Abshire,
BA ’03,
married Shaun Z. Abshire. She commutes between
working in Washington during the week and their
new home in Wyandotte, Mich.
Owen Pengelly,
MA ’03,
moved home to London in October. He works on
cross-government foreign policy challenges at
the Prime Minister’s
Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office.
Library
Journal named James
Walther, EdD ’03,
one of 51 outstanding librarians in its annual,
receiving the publication’s annual Movers & Shakers
Award. The honorees were selected from among
more than 150,000 librarians in the United Sates
and Canada. Walther is director of training and
development for New York Public Library Branch
Libraries.
Holland America Cruise Line
appointed Jeremy Gordon,
BA ’04, its musical director.
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2005 Table of Contents
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