The Classes

Michael Hill Wright ’88 MD (see Ann Marie Jodoin ’86 AM)

Peter M. Athanas ’92 PhD, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 1992, he was the principal or coprincipal investigator on grants researching high performance reconfigurable computing and signal processing. He disclosed 10 patents and was granted four U.S. patents. He also authored or coauthored more than 150 peer reviewed journal and conference papers and two book chapters. He served on numerous proposal review panels, including review panels for the National Science Foundation. In the classroom, he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. He directed more than 90 master’s degree and 20 PhD students and served on more than 220 master’s degree and PhD committees in total.

Ann Marie Jodoin ’86 AM, and Michael Hill Wright ’88 MD, met, dated, and fell in love while at Brown. Career paths took them to different parts of the country. Fast forward 35 years later, they have reconnected and are happily sharing life’s adventures together. They write: “Brown connections are forever. Thank you Brown.”

Jaimee Wriston Colbert ’76 AM published her seventh work of fiction, a novel called How Not to Drown, with Alcove Press/Crooked Lane Books. She was also promoted to distinguished professor of English and creative writing at SUNY, Binghamton University. 

Hilary Ross Salk ’65 MAT writes: “In 1976, I cofounded The Rhode Island Women’s Health Collective with other Rhode Island women. The organization brought together women to educate and advocate for women’s health care that empowered us to change many practices and policies that were detrimental to women’s health and our rights to control our care and bodies. The organization closed its doors in 1999. In 2016, I published Eavesdropping in Oberammergau, based on my experiences living as a U.S. Army brat in Oberammergau, Germany, from 1949-1952. Oberammergau is the home of the world-famous Passion Play, performed every 10 years since 1634. Finding out that it was considered anti-Semitic and that U.S. Jewish organizations were working to eradicate this aspect of the drama, I was inspired to write the novel given my own Jewish heritage. And in 1982, I ran for governor of Rhode Island as part of the Citizens Party.”

Mateus Baptista ’15 AM (see ’14)

Mateus Baptista ’15 AM, deputy director of strategy at Panasonic, will join the new corporate leadership council at CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. The council will work together to drive change and advance social impact. Unlike most councils, this new corporate leadership council is comprised of diverse industry leaders and includes more than 69 percent women and more than 46 percent people of color.

Drew Rubin ’81 ScM, writes: “I was a professional systems engineering analyst (now retired). I analyzed the federal government’s ‘best data’ on their website a few years ago. It suggested, but did not prove, climate change. It seemed to disprove man-made climate change. Interestingly, the data was removed within a year. If climate change exists but is not man-made, trying to stop it is either fruitless or extremely dangerous. We should not try to stop a natural ‘warm spell’ or the next ice age. If climate change exists and is man-made, what we are doing (and not doing) to stop it is poorly planned, poorly executed, and will not work.” 

Katherine Burgess ’09 ScM, ’12 PhD, has been awarded the Heinrich Award from the Microanalysis Society for her distinguished technical contributions to the field of microanalysis. A geologist with the U.S. Naval Research Lab, she is currently the lead investigator for a NASA Apollo next-generation sample analysis program.

Jennifer Pallay Bassan ’09 ScM, and her husband, Matthew, announce the June 25 birth of their second son, Caleb Heath Bassan. Jennifer writes: “Big brother Elliott is loving his new role.”

Chris Whelan ’04 ScM was promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. He assumed the role of the commandant of the Defense Nuclear Weapons School at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque in August. The school’s history dates back to the Manhattan Engineer District, the organization that devloped the world’s first atomic bomb. Established as the Technical Training Group (TTG), the mission was to provide integral training in this revolutionary new warfare specialty. The TTG’s original core curriculum was focused on the complex assembly of the first nuclear weapons. The TTG underwent several name changes over the early years, ending up as the Defense Nuclear Weapons School in 1995, and it serves all of the military services, federal, state, and local law enforcement, and other agencies.

Dean Alexander published the article “Gastrointestinal Symptomatology in Adults with Pica and Autism” in “Autism and Developmental Disorders-Russia” (2020, Vol 18, No.4), and was invited to give a follow-up virtual presentation to a Moscow audience of parents and professionals on May 3, 2021.

Ernesto Renda was selected for the 2021 cohort at Silver Art Projects, an artist residency housed in New York City’s World Trade Center.

Janet Leung ’16 earned a Bronze medal in women’s softball with Team Canada in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Other Brown Bears competing included Hanna Barakat ’21 of Team Palestine in track and field; Jagger Stephens ’20 represented Guam in swimming; and Cicely Madden ’18, Alex Miklasevich ’19, and Anders Weiss ’15 competed for Team USA in rowing events.

Daniel Sherrell, an organizer in the climate movement, published Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World.

Claire Luchette published her debut novel, Agatha of Little Neon, in August 2021 with FSG.

Ryan G.W. Grubbs was one of a group of Brunonians celebrating the wedding of Rachel Z. Arndt and Vincent Peiffer in Chicago on July 17. Other Brown grads in attendance were Hannah Garrett ’08, Ben Hyman ’11, Kate Taylor, and Maddie Wasser. The bride and groom descended from a fire pole at the Firehouse Chicago into an evening spent partying with friends and family. 

Mark Bloom and Colleen Gribbin ’09 welcomed daughter Grace Catherine Bloom to the world on July 5 in New York City.

Jennifer Pallay Bassan ’09 ScM (see ’08)

King Boston, a nonprofit with the mission of honoring the legacy of Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., named April Inniss as the director of community engaged research. She will work with cross sector partners and organizational leadership to develop the organization’s research, policy, and advocacy agenda. She has a background as a pediatrician and mixed methods researcher. Her research background includes work in both academia and industry and consists of projects that examined a variety of issues including racial and ethnic health disparities and the impact of media exposures on adult and child health. For five years, she was the director of research and evaluation at The Message, a Boston based, youth-facing media literacy startup, and she has extensive experience as a freelance research analyst at other companies and organizations.

Alina Engelman received tenure and promotion to associate professor of public health at California State Univ., East Bay. She also received a campus-wide Outstanding Researcher award. An article she first authored about COVID-19 and food insecurity in the deaf community in Public Health Reports was tweeted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of its daily credible health and safety updates.

Baldhiraj (Raj) S. Dang and Saloni Kaur Dang announce the June 18 birth of their daughter Karma Kaur Dang. Contact Baldhiraj at baldhiraj@gmail.com

Jen Siraganian was inducted as the Poet Laureate of Los Gatos in April. Selected by the mayor and members of the Los Gatos Library Board and Arts and Culture Commission, she earned the title through a unanimous vote and will serve a three-year term during which she will promote poetry and literature in the community. 

María Ospina published her short story collection, Variations on the Body, in the U.S. on July 6. The collection was originally published in Spanish in Colombia, Chile and Spain, and translated to Italian.

Pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness published a book on nonpharmacological treatments for chronic pain, The Pain Management Workbook: Powerful CBT and Mindfulness Skills to Take Control of Pain and Reclaim Your Life, which has been a great resource for folks living with pain during COVID-19, particularly those who are homebound or unable to see their physicians in person. She was also featured on two podcasts, Healing the Pain Pandemic and The Truth About Managing Chronic Pain.

Caroline Nielsen writes: “My book, Unleaded: How Changing Our Gasoline Changed Everything, which was published by Rutgers University Press on Sept. 17, tells the scandalous story of how lead was added to our nation’s gasoline supply against the advice of public health experts; the inspiring story of the scientists, activists, and government officials who worked to get the lead out of our gasoline; and the heartbreaking story of the generations that were poisoned in between.”

Rebecca Witonsky writes: “I am working as a research analyst in disability policy for national disability policy consultancy Griffin Hammis with a focus on self-employment. My role includes managing a policy database on self-employment for people with disabilities with a focus on analyzing the policies of Vocational Rehabilitation and blind VR agencies regarding self-employment; conducting research on TikTok, Facebook, and social media for nontraditional employment seekers; developing and writing research articles and briefs on issues related to self-employment for people with disabilities and the challenges of VR agencies in managing self-employment; taking an intensive course in public benefits for people with disabilities, which will prepare me to become an expert in this topic; and managing a database of Small Business Administration/Small Business Development Centers research as well. I am fluent in Spanish and happy with my current role. I would welcome the opportunity to network and connect with other Brown alumni in the disability policy space so we can share ideas about how to improve housing and job conditions for people with disabilities.”

Mark Tullius writes: “My nonfiction book TBI or CTE: What the Hell is Wrong with Me? is set for release November 16. With all the sad stories of former athletes struggling with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), I thought writing that focuses on awareness and hope for recovery might be of interest. TBI or CTE chronicles my researching TBIs and then undergoing treatments and practicing coping mechanisms when I discovered how much brain damage I’d accumulated with my unsuccessful professional MMA and boxing career and time playing Ivy League football. The book includes interviews with top brain experts, a heartbreaking look inside the life of my teammate from Brown University whose CTE prevented him from fighting cancer, tips culled from excellent books on the plasticity of the brain and its ability to heal, as well as a very personal look into my emotional well-being and all the test results that show how much my brain has improved. I believe my book can help raise awareness of TBIs, which affect millions of people every year, and bring hope to anyone who suffers from the symptoms such as depression, anxiety, impulse control, and more. I have published 10 works of fiction and my nonfiction book Unlocking the Cage: Exploring the Motivations of MMA Fighters is the largest sociological study of these athletes. I interviewed nearly 400 fighters and coaches from 100 gyms for the project, which is one of the main reasons I began looking into brain damage. I am also the host of the podcast Vicious Whispers and a purple belt in jiu jitsu under Eddie Bravo. 

Katie Crouch writes: “I’m living in Norwich, Vermont, with my family, right down the street from Shoshana Hort ’96. My husband and I both teach in the English department at Dartmouth, and my book, Embassy Wife, was out July 13 from FSG.” (See Fresh Ink).

Meredith Persily Lamel coauthored Six Paths to Leadership: Lessons from Successful Executives, Politicians, Entrepreneurs, and More with Palgrave Macmillan. She is CEO of Aspire@Work, an executive coaching and leadership development firm in Bethesda, Md. She also teaches leadership for American University’s Key Leadership Programs.

Akiko Ichikawa writes: “I was included in this year’s ‘Art in Odd Places,’ a weekend of performances in Manhattan. I performed Konnichiwa Shiba Inu, a work that employed Japanese animism to address Asian/immigrant alienation. I identified New Yorkers walking the breed and engaged with their pets in Japanese. I also read and tore pages from Ivanka Trump’s books and handed them to dog owners and walkers to use to collect their pets’ excrement in a ritual cleansing of the U.S. streets from an ex-president’s legacy and the possibility of his issue ever garnering the job. I was quoted in AMNY.com about the work. I also received a Cultural Solidarity Fund grant in June, administered by the Indie Theater Fund in New York City.”

Tania Teschke writes: “I am honored and excited to announce that my book, The Bordeaux Kitchen: An Immersion into French Food and Wine, Inspired by Ancestral Traditions was named one of the Best French Cooking Books of All Time by BookAuthority.” 

Grace Huang published Chiang Kai-shek’s Politics of Shame: Leadership, Legacy, and National Identity in China with Harvard University Asia Center. She is currently a professor of government at St. Lawrence Univ. in Canton, N.Y.

Jeffrey Shesol published Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War. The book chronicles the halting start of the U.S. space program and shows how John Glenn, more than any other figure, carried the nation’s hopes into space and toward John F. Kennedy’s new frontier.

Marcello Picone writes: “For the past several years I’ve found a new calling as a conversation designer. Earlier this year I created and launched the conversation for a digital “cookie coach” named Ruth for Nestlé. You can chat with Ruth who, among other topics, helps you bake the perfect personalized chocolate chip cookie. And who couldn’t appreciate a nice warm cookie of their very own these days? Folks can talk to Ruth anytime at verybestbaking.com. She’s a robot. She never sleeps.”

Ned Sherman launched GOAL Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in digital and technology ventures in games, media, and entertainment. He is founder of industry events company Digital Media Wire and a partner and investment committee member at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. He is on Variety’s Dealmakers List as “the top adviser operating in the flourishing esports industry.”

Alexandra Joy Forman writes: “I’d like to make a going out-of-print announcement for an exquisite and radical book by Brazilian author Hilda Hilst, which I translated to English for Nightboat Books in 2018. Fluxo Floema is Hilst’s first novel, originally published in Portuguese in 1969. The rights holders have decided on nonrenewal for all her recently translated work including Fluxo Floema in the hopes of finding a more commercial press. But this complex dark novel reflecting the innermost core of human nature by one of Brazil’s most unorthodox writers is unlikely to find another home and is well worth the read. Reach out to Nightboat Books for remaining copies directly from the editor: nightboat.org/book/fluxo-floema/

Susan Gander ’89 has joined the World Resource Institute as director of the Electric Bus Initiative, which is working to help fully electrify the nation’s fleet of 480,000 school buses over the next decade. Previously she was the managing director of policy for the Electrification Coalition, where she worked to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles at scale. Through strategic partnerships with key stakeholders across the country, the project, supported by the Bezos Earth Fund, aims to make more equitable, healthier electric mobility the new normal for the next generation.

Lisa Mullins Marchiano published Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself with Sounds True Publishing. The book explores motherhood as a psychological growth experience using a Jungian lens.

PR Newswire reported that the first Black-owned stock exchange, Dream Exchange, hired experienced exchange architect and software industry veteran Bruce Trask ’87 as chief technology officer. He previously worked as a senior architect at the NASDAQ stock exchange and prior to that as CEO and CTO of MDE Systems. He brings more than 30 years of key technical and managerial software experience to the position, including finance and market technology.

Ellen McClain will be transitioning from the role of chief financial officer to the role of chief operations officer of the workforce development nonprofit Year Up, which has generated some of the largest sustained earnings gains ever reported for a job training program for low-income young adults. In her new role, Ellen will lead and manage the organization’s growth as it works to advance economic and racial justice across the United States through its proven approach to workforce development. 

After more than a decade as vice president of global public policy and government affairs at Merck, Jeff May retired to lead nonprofit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Global. FIRST Global inspires leadership and innovation in youth around the world by empowering them through education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The FIRST Global Challenge, an annual Olympics style international robotics competition held in a different host country each year, is the mechanism for accomplishing this important mission. FIRST Global invites each nation to send one team of high school students to design, build, and program a robot to compete in the event. While the 2021 challenge is a virtual competition due to the pandemic, more than 160 country teams have signed up to participate. Jeff can be reached at Jmay@first.global if you are interested in learning more.

Art Berger received his sixth Emmy Award. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has recognized Art with a 2021 Emmy Award for Best Short Form content in the Environment and Science short film category for his film The Eagle has Landed. He was also nominated as Best Short Form Director for the film. He has received 21 Emmy nominations to date, including two presidential filmmaking awards working with NASA. Art writes: “Brown gave me a tremendous background in film studies, music, and art, and I have been blessed to be able to apply that in my work. I’ve made it my mission to give back to young people and create visual work that educates and inspires.”

Gary Ginsberg published First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents in July. The book dives into the riveting histories of a myriad of presidential friendships, including Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Daisy Suckley, and John Kennedy and David Ormsby-Gore. 

Sheryl Renee Dobson’s art pieces, “Shield of Faith” and “Middle Passage,” were selected out of 1,100 submissions from 542 artists in 21 countries to appear alongside 57 fellow artists’ work at The Katonah Museum of Art’s International Juried Biennial Exhibition entitled “Cladogram” in Katonah, N.Y.

Carl Weiner, an attorney with Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin, was selected to the 2021 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers List in the area of real estate, land use/zoning, and eminent domain.

For four consecutive years (2018-2021) Ron Kaufman has been awarded #1 Global Customer Service Guru in the World. This annual ranking by GlobalGurus.org evaluates the top 30 thought leaders in 17 fields based on peer recommendations, publications, social media activity, and presentation. Ron has been working in the field of customer service and customer experience since 1991, when he moved to Singapore to work closely with the nation’s airline, airport, and government services. His work has since expanded to include a New York Times bestselling book, Uplifting Service, and 14 other books on service, business, and inspiration.

Linda Jaivin published The Shortest History of China. The book mentions Brown in the acknowledgements: “This book is dedicated to Professor Lea Williams of Brown University, whose introductory course on East Asian history hooked me on the study of China in 1973, and whose insistence that I study the Chinese language changed my life.” The book was published earlier in Australia to rave reviews.

Griffin Rodgers ’76, ’79 MD, ’79 MMSc, director for the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, was named the 2021 honoree of the National President’s Award by the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP). He was honored in recognition of his “relentless dedication to the kidney patient community, public service, and America’s historic role as a leader in advanced research, medical innovation, and kidney care treatments.”

Beth Shadur exhibited her National Park Project paintings in a solo show at the Downing Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her more than 30 works explore human impact on pristine landscapes and call for stewardship of sacred lands. Her son Jordan Mainzer ’13 is also engaged to be married next March.

The audiobook version of Ron Grelsamer’s novel Into the Sky with Diamonds won an AudioFile Magazine award. The novel weaves the story of the race to space with the emergence of the Beatles in the ’60s and is brought to life by narrator Graham Halstead, who enlivens the listening experience through his delivery of the Beatles’ Liverpool accents. A past Brown president also makes an appearance as one of the novel’s key players. 

Tim Truby had several of his landscape art photographs included in a show at the prestigious JG Gallery in Santa Monica in June. These and others of his photo works can be found at tim-truby-photography.com or on Instagram at timtruby.

Henry Farah writes: “In the past several years a new approach to painting has been producing some interesting results. See artworkhenryfarah.com or henryscottfarah_art on Instagram.”

Benny Sato Ambush was selected to be the new artistic director at the Venice Theatre in Venice, Fla. Most recently he was the senior distinguished producing director in residence at Emerson College. He is a veteran Stage Directors and Choreographers Society director, institutional theater leader, educator, published commentator and consultant. In addition to his new role, he is a fellow with the College of Fellows of American Theatre, a member of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, and a board trustee for the National Theatre Conference, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, New Repertory Theatre, and the Worcester Academy.

Stan Schretter ’68 ScM (see Judy Drazen Schretter ’68).

Terence Harkin published In the Year of the Rabbit, a novel and the sequel to The Big Buddha Bicycle Race, which was a Kirkus Top 100 Indie Book of 2017, a Top Ten Vietnam War book at Goodreads, and the 2020 recipient of a Silver Medal in Literary Fiction from the Military Writers Society of America. 

Laurie O. Robinson ’68, Clarence J. Robinson Professor Emerita of criminology, law and society at George Mason University, has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 Herbert Bloch Award for her “outstanding service contributions to the American Society of Criminology and to the professional interests of criminology.” Ms. Robinson will receive her honor at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in November. 

Laurence Pizer writes: “I retired as town clerk of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in June 2020 after 28 years. This year, when a group paid to gather the necessary signatures to seat a charter commission to turn Plymouth’s town meeting/select board government into a mayor/council form, I put my name forward for the ensuing election as a candidate to consider keeping our present form. I was elected as one of nine commissioners and was named vice chair of the commission.”

Judith Minno Hushon writes: “The class officers have begun planning for our 55th reunion in May 2022. We are looking at alternatives for activities and venues while the University has not yet determined its “official” plan. It is also not clear whether graduation will return to the traditional Memorial Day weekend or whether it will remain early in May as it did this year. We will keep you posted. If you have any special ideas, please send them to Sharon Drager, our president.”

Phillip Koutsogiane received two awards from the Rhode Island Bar Association; one in 2014, when he was awarded the Pro Bono Publico Award for outstanding service with the Volunteer Lawyers Program and again in 2020, when he received the Rhode Island Bar Association Continuing Service Award for his steadfast commitment and distinguished service to the administration of justice. He is a sole practitioner in Woonsocket, R.I. 

Judy Drazen Schretter and Stan Schretter ’65, ’68 ScM, joined in celebrating the bar mitzvah of their youngest grandchild, Eli Benjamin Kahn, in New Jersey,  in April. They write: “We were delighted to be able to share Eli’s special day in person. Eli is the son of our daughter Mindy and her husband Arlen. Our daughter Robin, along with her husband Matt, and sons Tyler and Luke also joined in the celebration. Our granddaughter McKenna, who is studying at Ohio State Univ., joined the service via Zoom along with other family and friends. In January 2020, we were lucky enough to have been able to travel to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia before everything was shut down. We are looking forward to resuming travel again very soon.”

Donald Friary concluded a 14-year tenure as president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in November 2020. The society has established the Donald R. Friary Annual Lecture in his honor. He was also elected an honorary trustee of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. At home in Salem, Mass., he has begun two new ventures; affiliating with the international firm Tours by Locals, he is leading in-depth walking tours of Salem on historical and architectural themes; and with Essex Heritage, he appears in character and costume as the diarist Rev. William Bentley (1759-1819) on Zoom and live on cruises of Salem Sound.

Bruce Hiland coauthored Retiring? Your Next Chapter Is About Much More Than Money with former Sen. Ted Kaufman. The book is a guide to the often-overlooked, non-financial aspects of retirement. Kirkus Reviews called it “An engaging retirement self-help guide.”

John Willenbeche writes: “I will be having an exhibition at the Craig F. Starr Gallery, 5 East 73rd St., New York City, from October 5, 2021, to January 15, 2022. The show will consist not of recent work but of my very earliest paintings on paper and constructions from the 1960s.”

Leslie Feifer Peltier welcomed a third great-grandchild, Cleo, born October ’20 in Chicago, and hopes that Cleo and her parents will visit the East Coast. Great-grandchildren #1 and #2 currently live in Oklahoma. Last year a grandson gave her StoryWorth as a Christmas present: “Weekly you receive questions/prompts to encourage you to write about various aspects of your life. You submit your writing to StoryWorth and at the end of a year all your writings are bound into a keepsake book. Voila! A memoir!”

Paul Johnson, a Sigma Nu, writes that he visited Bill Chadwick, a Kappa Sigma. Both are connected to Vero Beach, Fla.

Jill Hirst Scobie reports: “Perhaps you sometimes ask yourself how you can be in touch with your classmates and friends from your days at Brown? Our newsletter coeditor John Reistrup has turned webmaster, overhauling our Class of 1958 website. Check it out. Here’s the link: sites.google.com/brown.edu/brown-class-of-1958/. The website is organized in this manner: “Home Page” is about the class and its activities; “About Us” lists class officers and cabinet; “News and Notes” is written by and about our classmates; “Having My Say” contains original essays by classmates; “Online Conversations” is a selection of emails that have been shared between and among class members; “Photo Gallery” shows images from our 60th reunion, as well as other gatherings; “Remembering” is a page of links to the obituaries of deceased ’58s going back to 2008, as well as pictures of our 50th reunion; “Links” lists other websites for Brunonians. The pages titled “News and Notes,” “Having My Say,” and “Online Conversations” will be the main vehicles replacing our award-winning newsletter and will expedite communication between and among classmates. Alas, I have the melancholy task of telling you that Sandy McFarland Taylor is resigning from her position as copresident of the Class of 1958. Sandy brought intelligence, wisdom, energy, great ideas, endless good humor, and boundless enthusiasm to this office. She was present at every reunion and every mini-reunion. She’d be there to greet you and there to ensure that all ended well. And she attests that she “loved every minute of it.” As the mother of three daughters, two of whom are also Brown graduates, she is and always has been deeply committed to the University and invested in its future. We salute you, copresident Sandy, and thank you for all your work on behalf of our class over the years. You really have been “ever true.” Consequently, Jane Bertram Miluski has agreed to serve as Jim Moody’s copresident. A dynamic duo, I’d wager.”

Marilyn Carlson Simon sends greetings to her classmates. She and husband Bill are well and happy.

Jean Nostrand reported that her son, Guy Dorgan, raced in the National Masters Swim Meet in North Carolina. Guy beat his best times in all his events. Jean, also a swimmer, swims 1,500 yards every day, usually at the Peddie School pool in Hightstown, N.J.

Joan Herbst Lumb of Florida writes: “My art history studies helped me become a docent for 11 years at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. The museum’s 8,000-piece collection includes American, European, and contemporary works plus photography and Chinese artists. Last summer the museum offered only the outdoor sculpture garden to visitors due to the pandemic. Classmates may contact me for information at hlumb@bellsouth.net.”

Larry Lundgren writes: “Lyle Bourne, Joan Carmody Theve, and I began first grade in Rumford, Rhode Island, together, graduated from East Providence High School in 1949 together, and graduated from Brown/Pembroke in 1953. Now, I have moved from Linköping, Sweden, to Gothenburg, where I look out my window at a magnificent forest named Delsjöskogen. It is where I run every morning. The single best experience in Sweden was 21 years at the Red Cross, where every week I and colleagues met high school students who came to the country as asylum seekers. The biggest group came from the Horn of Africa. In 2013, I read a New York Times OpEd by former U.S. Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt, to get Americans to discuss ending classification by fictional “race,” as proposed by Prewitt but never again discussed seriously in the Times. Not one of the Somali-born students had any idea that if he or she were to move to America they would be assigned to a “race.” In Sweden, they learned that we all are Homo sapiens. I learned from BAM that at least some Brown medical students have taken the first steps to end the use of “race” in American medicine. Norman James and Alvin Gerstein ’54, please write to me—Google and you will find me.”

Robert G. Goodby ’88 AM, ’94 PhD published A Deep Presence: 13,000 Years of Native American History, in which he tells the 13,000-year story of Native Americans in the Monadnock Region. 

Phillip S. Kott ’76 AM, ’79 PhD has been inducted into the National Agricultural Statistics Services Hall of Fame.

R. Baxter Miller ’72 AM, ’74 PhD, professor emeritus of English and African American Studies at the University of Georgia, is a leading cultural critic. He is the author or editor of more than 100 publications, including 11 books and two new pamphlets on contemporary subjects. His work, The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes, won the American Book Award in 1991.

Anna Lenaker ’20 MPA published her memoir Able to Be Otherwise, an intimate account of her experiences and encounters with poverty, addiction, and climate change. In her book she writes about her time at Brown as a first generation low-income student. She was interviewed by Trending Globally, a podcast by the Watson Institute, and Congressman David Cicilline ’83 of Rhode Island wrote a praise quote for her book cover. 

Marcia Chatelain ’03 AM, ’08 PhD is the recipient of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in the history category for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. The board called Chatelain’s book “a nuanced account of the complicated role the fast-food industry plays in African American communities [and] a portrait of race and capitalism that masterfully illustrates how the fight for civil rights has been intertwined with the fate of Black businesses.”  In her book Marcia reveals that for African Americans, fast food is a source of both despair and power—and a battlefield on which the fight for racial justice has been waged since the 1960s.  Marcia is currently a professor of history and African American studies at Georgtown University. 

Bee Vang published an op-ed on NBC News THINK about the recent spike in anti-Asian hate attacks and his experience as a child playing the lead role in Gran Torino, a film directed by Clint Eastwood that featured copious anti-Asian slurs. He has since been interviewed by Ana Cabrera on CNN Newsroom and given an interview on CBC and the University of Michigan. He also spoke at Harvard University and at the Commonwealth Club in California in which he was joined by CNN journalist Soledad O’Brien, physicist Michio Kaku, and former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. 

 Yeshimabeit Milner ’12, cofounder of Data4Black Lives, was honored by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum with a John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for her efforts using data analysis to expose systemic racism faced by Black Americans in their daily lives. With cofounder Lucas Mason-Brown and three other executive team members at D4BL, Milner illuminates systemic discrimination by using concrete data, statistical modeling, and data visualization.

Priya Parrotta released an album dedicated to the world’s oceans called Wayfinder and an e-book titled To Dream Again: Imagining Island Solidarity Through Music. Both projects are part of an initiative named Music & the Earth International, which produces resources to support multicultural and decolonial forms of environmental consciousness-raising. Priya can be reached at priya.parrotta@gmail.com.

Dr. Sara D’Apolito-Dworkin and Harrison Avart are engaged to be married September 2021. Harrison and Sara met during freshman year orientation in their dorm, West Andrews Hall. They now live together in Philadelphia.

M.P. Carver directed the 2021 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, which featured more than 50 events and headliners such as Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess and renowned poet and former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets Naomi Shihab Nye. Mass Poetry, the nonprofit organization that ran the festival, focuses on growing the audience for poetry and bringing poetry into schools and public art projects. Carver, also a poet herself, began as director of the Festival last November, but has been a friend of the organization for many years. 

On May 14, Mikel D. Brown graduated with a master of public health from the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California and was inducted into the Beta Lambda Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. 

Paisid Aramphongphan published Horizontal Together: Art, Dance, and Queer Embodiment in 1960s New York with Manchester University Press. Bridging art history, dance studies, and queer theory, the book tells the story of 1960s art and queer culture in New York through the overlapping circles of Andy Warhol, underground filmmaker Jack Smith, and experimental dance star Fred Herko. Paisid’s website is paisid.net. 

Adam Stern published his memoir Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It is his story of training as a psychiatry resident and pulling back the curtain on the intense, emotionally challenging lessons he learned about the human condition, overcoming imposter syndrome, and learning about love and loss. 

Jessica Pesce and Daniel Ullucci ’04 AM, ’09 PhD announce the June 22, 2020, birth of their son Antonio Julian Pesce Ullucci in Cambridge, Mass. Jessica writes: “He has been wearing lots of Brown gear and enjoying being a quarantine baby.”

Ted Lee writes: “I spent the winter at South Pole Station, where I managed the medical clinic. It’s currently -95°F, dark all day, and the auroras are beautiful.”

Clare L. Frost launched a post-production campaign for her production company’s feature film The Sisters Karras on Kickstarter. The film is about two estranged half-sisters who meet for the first time at the reading of their father’s will. There, they learn they have inherited a rare, antique textile—a family heirloom worth a lot of money—but that they have to share it with each other and their father’s old friend Marco, a man they’ve never met. The film’s Kickstarter page reached its $50,000 goal. 

Though Kate Papp and Bill Rice met in Em-Wool (the first-year dorm Emery-Woolley) in 2001, it wasn’t until 2019 that they really connected. They married Oct. 30, 2020, near Brown’s campus with immediate family in attendance. Krissy Loening MacArthur and Ann Murray watched the couple take their wedding pictures on the Quiet Green from a COVID-safe distance. 

Meredith Jones and Keith Law were married in January in a micro-wedding in Wilmington, Del., with their three daughters filling out the wedding party. Meredith was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in the department of psychology at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. 

Hentyle Yapp published Minor China: Method, Materialisms, and the Aesthetic with Duke University Press. A professor of art and public policy at New York University, Hentyle analyzes contemporary Chinese art as it circulates on the global art market to outline the limitations of the predominant narratives that currently frame understandings of non-Western art.

Lillie Marshall writes: “For those who enjoyed my daily cartoon in the Brown Daily Herald from 1999 to 2003, you can now follow my artwork online at drawingsof.com, an educational cartoon site. Stop by for creative inspiration, illustrated lessons on common English typos, and fun kids’ stories. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with readers over the years, and just as I did during my Brown days, I still take drawing requests… so be in touch.”

Nora Oberfield and Mike Fruchter announce the Sept. 25, 2020, birth of their second daughter, Adeline “Addie” Bea Fruchter. “Addie is a bright spot during this pandemic and only has eyes for big sister Sasha Dylan Fruchter.”

David Flink has been named one of the 2021 CNN Heroes in recognition of his efforts to empower students who learn differently, including those with a specific learning disability or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He is CEO of Eye to Eye, a national nonprofit mentoring program for students with learning differences, which was founded at Brown 20 years ago. The CNN piece also details the innovations Eye to Eye executed while the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and isolated students nationwide, including virtual workshops for students and educators.

Lauren Hale Biniaris created and launched a three-week online course called “The 21-Day Calm Your Mind Challenge.” It is a daily program of basic yoga, breathing techniques, mindfulness, and self-reflection that empowers participants with concrete tools for managing anxiety and creating more calm in their lives. Recent participants have called the challenge “an incredible journey” and have reported feeling “calmer, but also stronger and more in-tune with myself.” The program is inclusive of all bodies, ages, levels, and abilities and offers a full refund for anyone less than satisfied with its results. More information is at www.21DayCalmYourMindChallenge.com and Lauren@21DayCalmYourMindChallenge.com.”

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook wrote to the BAM in May: “After 12 years in the U.S. we are moving ‘back’ to Germany in July 2021. I will become the director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in June, proving that college dreams do come true (thank you, Watson!), and my husband and son will join me later in the summer. Jonathan’s younger sister will be born in Berlin in late September. Once travel is again widely available, we welcome classmates to Germany’s capital.”

Michael J. Hsu ’97 has been appointed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ’67 as the first deputy comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and will assume the role of acting comptroller. He joins the OCC from the Federal Reserve, where he was associate director in the division of supervision and regulation.

Rebecca Witonsky writes: “I work for disability policy consultancy Griffin-Hammis Associates as a disability policy researcher. My work involves collecting and creating policy summaries for the vocational rehabilitation and blind vocational rehabilitation agencies. I also work on social media projects for employment seekers with disabilities and develop a database of small business development centers.”

Page Sargisson writes: “I opened a jewelry store/studio on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. It seems crazy to open during a pandemic but I think people are craving handmade pieces made locally. We’re also selling pottery made by Dave Herbstman ’90 and my husband Peter Robbins ’92. Please stop by and say hello if you are in the neighborhood.”

Karen Leitner started a coaching business for female physicians to help them lessen burnout and better their lives. She can be reached at karenleitnermd@gmail.com. 

Daisy Wademan Dowling published Workparent: The Complete Guide to Succeeding on the Job, Staying True to Yourself, and Raising Happy Kids, a complete how to guide to working parenthood. As a long-time executive coach and full-time working parent herself, Daisy became frustrated that she couldn’t find that one, covers-it-all, nonjudgmental handbook on managing kids and a career, so she decided to write it. The book includes working parents, moms, dads, and gay, straight, biological, and adoptive parents in all careers with children of differing ages. It also addresses what working parenthood can and should look like in a post-pandemic “new normal.”

Jocelyn Strauber ’95, a partner of the law firm Skadden, has joined the steering committee of the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project. The When There Are Nine Scholarship Project was created by a group of women lawyers who served as assistant attorneys in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in partnership with the Federal Bar Foundation following the death of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The program will provide financial assistance and mentoring support to women law students.   

Katie Crouch published Embassy Wife with Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The novel follows two women in Namibia in search of the truth about their husbands and their country.

Ian Chan is leading his biotech company, Abpro, to the front lines of the global race to develop new antibody treatments against the increasing number of COVID-19 variants. With many vaccines’ effectiveness against COVID variants in question, these antibody treatments will be key in fighting the variants. Abpro is conducting a clinical trial for its drug, which is considered the most advanced COVID antibody treatment being developed behind those of Big Pharma giants Regeneron and Eli Lilly. Though the current vaccines in the market and those being developed give the body the blueprint for fighting the common COVID virus, antibody treatments are administered to find and kill the virus and its various strains. These treatments will be used for people who don’t respond to the vaccines and might appeal to vaccine non-adopters. Recent preclinical data published in Nature Communications show Abpro’s drug binds to various COVID variants with high effectiveness, and it may even be effective in people who are infected with strains from the U.K. and South Africa, as well as new strains that have recently appeared in Boston and in New York.

Abby Rosin McCreath writes: “When I graduated from Brown my passion was preventing domestic abuse, gang involvement, pimping, depression, and other women’s issues. I started Groove With Me in 1996, a free dance school and youth development organization. Amazingly, it is celebrating 25 years in June.”

Ian Reifowitz was promoted to the academic rank of State University of New York (SUNY) distinguished professor. This is a SUNY-wide rank to which a handful of faculty across all disciplines and SUNY campuses get promoted each year, and the members form the SUNY Distinguished Academy. Ian has been a member of the historical studies department at SUNY Empire State College since 2002. He writes: “The best thing about the promotion was that my daughter was so excited she baked us a little chocolate peanut butter cake to celebrate.”

Daniel Newman launched Decode Democracy (decode.org), a nonpartisan campaign to fight online political deception, protect democracy, and hold social media companies accountable.

Ainissa Ramirez is the author of The Alchemy of Us. Her book was selected as a finalist by the L.A. Times Book Festival in the category of science and technology and was highlighted in BAM’s October issue (https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2020-10-23/the-feedback-loop). It was also selected by the Brown University bookstore for the 2021 Brown University Book Award. 

Mark Hellendrung opened a taproom and brewery at India Point Park across from the Brown boathouse. As CEO of the Narragansett Brewing Company, he has been working on bringing back the famous Narragansett Beer for 16 years and the company has climbed the ranks of more than 8,000 U.S. craft breweries to the 30th largest by volume. 

Beth Wishnie writes: “Lisa Loeb ’90 and I were on a Brown theater reunion several months ago, which inspired her to want to write a musical about the pandemic experience with all the amazing Brown grads we were reconnecting with after all these years. A bunch of the other people in the reunion agreed it was a great idea and so we did it. In the spirit of Once Upon A Weekend, a playwriting festival that Paula Vogel created at Brown years ago, we got 10 different playwrights, matched them with composers and directors, all from Brown, and created 10 seven-minute complete musicals, all taking place from March to November 2020, all on Zoom, and all about finding connection with other people while isolated because of the pandemic. The actors are also all from Brown and include Lisa Loeb, Julie Bowen ’91, JoBeth Williams ’70, Josh Hamilton ’91, Ann Harada ’85, and Rhonda Ross ’93 among many other talented folks. They streamed the musical starting May 20 for four days as a fundraiser for the Actors Fund.” 

Lee Newman was appointed Dean of IE Business School in Madrid. Lee writes: “The world of work is changing so fast and I’m excited to help define the future of business education. I am particularly happy to re-engage with Brown, which is our partner in the IE-Brown Executive MBA.”

In March, Derek Livingston was named the director of new play development/artistic associate at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. In this newly created position he will be responsible for reenvisioning and overseeing the Festival’s new play program, Words Cubed, as well as other artistic and senior staff duties. For the past few years his primary artistic work has been as an actor. Las Vegas audiences have seen his work in Thurgood, The Pillowman, and The Whipping Man. Prior to that, he was primarily a theater director, producer, and new play developer, having served for more than four years as the managing artistic director of Los Angeles’s Celebration Theatre (the country’s second oldest, continuously operating LGBT focused theatre).

In February, Robin Lenhardt was tapped to colead Georgetown University’s new Racial Justice Institute. It will serve as a hub where scholars, activists, and thought leaders may work across the academic, policy, and advocacy spaces and serve as a place to seed and inspire the next generation of scholars and leaders addressing the vestiges of enslavement and well-being of Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Monica Brady-Myerov writes: “I am honored to be working with two fellow grads at my ed tech startup Listenwise. Dr. Marielle Palombo is our director of curriculum and Vicki Levy Krupp ’86 is our curriculum writer. We curate podcasts and create lessons for K-12 teachers. My book, Listen Wise: Teach Students to be Better Listeners, was published in April. It brings together my experiences as a reporter and entrepreneur with research and advice to help teachers improve their students’ listening skills.”

Class Vice President for Communications Vinny Egizi writes: “If you are not a member of our Brown University Class of 1988 Facebook group, please join. In the group we now have albums set up for each of our four years and would love to see yours. So dust off those photos from your Brown days and upload them to these albums. Memories are priceless so stop being selfish and share them with us.”

Tina Patterson was selected as one of 15 appointed and elected public leaders from nine states and Washington, D.C., to participate in the Public Leaders for Inclusion Council (PLC) 2021 Cohort sponsored by America Indivisible. The Public Leaders for Inclusion Council is a leadership development program that convenes civil servants from across the country who have shown a consistent commitment to addressing bigotry and building inclusive communities. The program equips participants to explore practices and policies that challenge anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of hate while building inclusion and social resilience in their communities. The program includes briefings on the religious and cultural landscape of their communities as well as on local incidents of hate and discrimination primarily targeting Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim from Arab, South Asian, Black, and Sikh communities as well as other groups.

Bob Katz writes: “Bob Katz aka The Mangfather Bob Katz here. I just released my third album Six Cans of Olives in the U.S. The music is already in regular rotation on radio stations throughout Canada and is getting great reviews from music magazines throughout the world. You can check it out on my website (http://www.themangfather.com) or on all the major streaming sites (Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Deezer, etc.) under my artist name, The Mangfather Bob Katz. Wishing you all peace and safety at this difficult time.”

David Jones writes: “I have been appointed U.S. bankruptcy judge for the southern district of New York in Manhattan. Before that, I was an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan for 24 years, and for the last 11 serving as deputy chief of the civil division. I live in Brooklyn and I am married to Marta Nelson ’86. Our kids, Alec and Lian, are 24 and 19 respectively so we naturally have a new rambunctious puppy to go with an elderly rescue dog. I would love to hear from old friends.”

Amy Hummerstone received her master’s of arts in Architectural History from Columbia University in May 2020. 

NASA announced funding for two missions to Venus. Both are headed by Brown alums. The orbiter, VERITAS, is led by Dr. Sue Smrekar  ’84 and the probe, Davinci+, is led by James Garvin ’84 PhD. Each team will get about $500 million, and launch is expected between 2028 and 2030.

David B. Whitacre’s debut novel The Seven Gifts was published with HenschelHAUS Publishing. The book argues that all of humanity can be explained through the lens of the Seven Gifts and includes fun stories from his days at Brown. 

Gary Ginsberg published First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents. The book takes a look at White House history through the eyes of the best friends and closest confidants of American presidents. 

George Deckey writes: “I’d like to belatedly report my son Ben’s graduation from Brown last year. Alas, we were hoping to doubly congratulate him this year on both his bachelor’s and master’s in CS from Brown but COVID unfortunately had other plans. So congrats Ben! He is the seventh Deckey in three generations to attend Brown and there are more Deckeys in the Brown pipeline, including Isabella Deckey ’22. Go Bruno!”

Anne Beal writes: “I am happy to share the news that I am joining the GSK board. I will also become a member of the corporate responsibility committee, which provides oversight of the company’s policies for access to medicines, global health, inclusion and diversity, and environmental sustainability. Given my decades-long focus on health disparities and elevating the voice of the patient and public health, this is an exciting professional fit. I’ve enjoyed meeting the members of the board and GSK leadership and look forward to working with these thoughtful and committed professionals.”

Frederick Thurber writes: “The Big Sky Journal published an article I wrote about a retreat I went on in Montana for men with cancer. Subsequently, Health Union hired me to be an advocate for ProstateCancer.net. In December, audible.com published my first audio book In the Wake of the Willows. It was narrated by Madeline Barker ’21 MFA (while in her closet) as detailed in the January BAM: https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2021-01-11/the-actress-the-mic-and-the-wardrobe.” 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that Peter Case ’83 and Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert ’03, great-great-grandchildren of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller Sr., have created the Equation Campaign and pledged a combined $30 million of their personal wealth to the effort aimed at supporting people on the front lines fighting new oil and gas development. The campaign, which is looking to raise $100 million, will fund all aspects of blocking new development, including lawsuits, protest activities, public relations, social-media campaigns, and legal support when people are arrested or blocked from exercising their First Amendment rights of speech and assembly. 

Andrea Manzi Frank retired as the curator of visual resources at Boston College in January 2019. Since then, she and her husband Steven Frank ’83 have been pursuing a project combining Andrea’s background in art history and Steve’s experience in computer science. The tool they developed, which uses artificial intelligence to assist in the authentication of artworks, can distinguish different artists’ contributions to a particular work. The project has received attention in international art and news outlets, including articles in the Art Newspaper and the Telegraph. Andrea and Steve have published articles about their work in peer-review journals, including Neural Computation and Leonardo. More information can be found at www.art-eye-d.com.

David Torrence writes: “I am finishing my second year as a high school principal in Xenia, Ohio. I am a ‘war principal’ who was booted out of my building two-thirds of the way through my first year, having only about 70 percent of my students in the building this year. Through it all, my students and staff have been nothing less than amazing. Not a single case of COVID was transmitted in our building and the XHS community has been very supportive of each other as we have worked together to get through this year. I’m looking forward to the ’21-’22 school year, when, with luck, we can operate for a full year without having to wear masks. Anyone wishing to touch base can find me at d_e_torrence@yahoo.com. And if anyone can convince Brad Stevens to leave the Celtics to come coach the Hoosiers, I’d greatly appreciate the favor.”

Tom Ratcliffe directed The Stand: How One Gesture Shook the World, a film about circumstances that led runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos to raise their fists in protest of racial inequality at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the great personal risks they took, and the subsequent fallout they endured. Through intimate interviews with the participants and witnesses involved in that moment, along with compelling images and archives, the film explores the runners’ historic stand in the context of a critically important and volatile time for the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Brown professors Brian Meeks and Françoise Hamlin appear in the film. 

Dean Herrin writes: “I recently retired as chief historian of the National Capital Region of the National Park Service, in Washington, D.C. I live in Frederick, Maryland, with my wife Sarah Heald, and we have a daughter, Emma, who lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. I’m looking forward to working on my own research projects, and I have to say I’m a little shocked at how quickly we’re moving toward the front of the alumni pages.”

Scott Daube believes he has changed little since graduating from Brown, neither good nor bad, but is not sure if that is really true. He drinks tea at least twice a day, as always, but it is nowhere near as boring as it sounds. He has had the same job for the past 25 years, still finding it stimulating and challenging, sometimes too much so. He says a big hello to anyone who used to know him at Brown who cares to listen, and perhaps even to those who don’t, and wishes them well. He can be reached at scdaube@icloud.com.

Karen Ticktin writes: “I moved back to my old stomping grounds on the Upper East Side with my newish husband Doug. When I’m not providing personal and corporate branding services, I’m listening to my daughter Lacie’s radio show (Northeastern ’23) or FaceTiming with our grandkids in Florida and Los Angeles. I would love to reconnect with any and all classmates.” 

Robert Pfeffer writes: “I am still living in New York City while practicing medicine at NYU and on the faculty at the NYU School of Medicine. With the deepest pride imaginable, I want to congratulate my son Matthew Pfeffer ’21 on his graduation from Brown this spring. Way to go Matt! Both of us are ever true.”

Penny Dinneen Hillemann is executive director of Rice County United Way in Northfield, Minn. Previously, she was vice president and senior communications counselor at Neuger, a strategic communications agency. She and David Keyes ’78 were married in 2008. She writes that the children she shares with former husband Eric Hillemann, Phoebe (Kenyon ’11), Hallie (Lawrence ’16), and Henry (St. Olaf ’23)—are “launched, or nearly so.” Penny has served on many boards and is learning to play bluegrass banjo.

Deborah Heiligman published her 33rd book for children and teens, She Persisted: Clara Lemlich. The book is about a Ukranian immigrant who rose to a position of power in the women’s labor movement and incited the famous Uprising of the 20,000 in 1909. She writes: “I was so inspired writing about one badass Jewish woman that I’m now tackling another, Emma Goldman. This one will be for young adults (and older adults).” Find her work at deborahheiligman.com. 

Brown’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Barbara D. Chernow ’79 retired at the end of summer 2021. Among her many accomplishments in her six years in the role was partnering with Provost Richard M. Locke to implement a zero-based budgeting process, helping create Brown’s net-zero sustainability plan, and, on another note,  breaking a Guinness World Record in 2018, when she directed staff teams that stuffed 3,000 backpacks with school supplies for Rhode Island children. Chernow’s six years at Brown follow more than 30 years in educational administration. At the NYC Board of Education in the early 1980s, she supervised a system of school buses serving more than half a million students daily. She served as vice president of the NYC School Construction Authority before transitioning to higher education in 1998, when she joined Stony Brook University. She left the role of senior vice president for administration there to come to Brown in 2015. “Leaving the University twice—once after being a student, and now again after serving as an administrator—will truly be bittersweet,” Chernow said. “Barbara’s last day will be in September, but her impact at Brown will be felt for generations,” President Christina Paxson said. 

David Shields cowrote I’ll Show You Mine, produced by Mark and Jay Duplass and starring Poorna Jagannathan and Casey Thomas Brown. 

Donna Gordon writes: “My novel What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me is due out from Regal House in June 2022. While at Brown, I received the Kim Ann Arstark Award in creative writing. Afterwards, I was a Stegner Fellow in creative writing at Stanford. I’ve since published several short stories and have received literary awards. I was a PEN Discovery in New England and a Ploughshares Discovery over the years. BAM published my photo essay about my documentary photography project, “Putting Faces on the Unimaginable,” in October 1989. At the time, I had been interviewing and photographing former prisoners of conscience from all over the world. My novel was inspired by that experience. I was grateful to be able to translate so much of what I learned about oppression, torture, and imprisonment into my fictional story. The essay and photos from that project were shown at Harvard’s Fogg Museum, Boston’s French Library, and Tufts. Part of my story is that it took me until the age of 64 (65 when my book comes out) to publish my first novel. Life has taken me in many directions since graduating from Brown, but my days studying creative writing with Michael Harper, Jack Hawkes, and Edwin Honig were the beginnings of something that has never lost its hold. There was a power to the experience of being in those classrooms. There was a power to exploring the special collections at the John Hay Library, where I often went just to sit and be in that space where rare books were kept.” 

Class president Barbara Sunderland Manousso received recognition as the recipient of the Adams Award as the top mediator in Texas through the Texas Association of Mediators, and the Houston Lifetime Achievement Award through the Association of Conflict Resolution Houston Chapter, as well as being recognized by the Houston Business Journal as “A Woman Who Means Business” for professional services.

John Lantos coauthored Kidney to Share with Martha Gershun. The book describes Martha’s experience donating a kidney to a stranger at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 2018. It uses the case as a jumping off point to explore the medical, financial, and psychosocial barriers that make it difficult to donate organs and may exacerbate health disparities. 

Linda Jaivin’s 12th book, The Shortest History of China: From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower—A Retelling for Our Times, was published with the Experiment in the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. The book will also be translated into Greek, Russian, Japanese, and other languages. In it, Linda acknowledges Brown Professor Emeritus of History Lea Williams for introducing her to Chinese history and insisting she study the language as well, for which she is incredibly thankful. 

Wendy Rowden was recognized by Crain’s New York Business as a 2021 “Notable in Nonprofits and Philanthropy.” She took the helm of nonprofit Building for the Arts in 2015 and has focused on deepening the organization’s impact in the communities it serves. Its two signature projects are Theatre Row and Music and the Brain. She writes: “I couldn’t have done this heavy lift without the support of my life partner (and college sweetheart), John Carton.”

Emerson Coleman continues to develop and launch new media projects in his role as senior vice president of programming for Hearst Television, where he created the weekly national political show Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien and the Matter of Fact Listening Tour digital series The Hard Truth About Bias: Images and Reality and To Be an American: Identity, Race and Justice, streaming at matteroffact.tv.

William Marks writes: “It’s been a busy, rewarding, and too often heartbreaking few years as the CMO of Ben Crump Law, where we’ve represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Jacob Blake, and the poisoned children of Flint, Mich. Ben and I have traveled the country, where he continues to rail against environmental racism, police misconduct, and all that society has brought down upon the voiceless, marginalized, and disadvantaged. But we are a hopeful crew and dream of the day when much of what has happened can be behind us.”

Clifford P. Kubiak was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020. A distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego, he holds the title of Harold C. Urey Chair in chemistry and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Chemical Society. 

Crawford B. Bunkley III narrated the audiobook for When We’re Home In Africa by Themba Umbalisi on Audible. Crawford writes: “When the Union Army frees the slaves from a Southern plantation, one man sets out on an amazing series of adventures. From an infantry soldier at the Battle of the Crater, he joins the 9th U.S. Cavalry and becomes a Buffalo Soldier. Stationed in West Texas, he makes powerful friends—and enemies. Soon, his life takes an unexpected, dangerous turn. Will he ever achieve his dream of finding a home in Africa?”

Timothy Runkel published The Warrior Surprises Gog and Magog, an imaginative novel that focuses on God’s fulfilling the prophecies of Ezekiel. 

Ed Murphy and Patrice moved to Virginia Beach from St. Louis (after 40+ years) to be near their daughter and two grandchildren. 

Scott Harris writes: “Pandemic zooms with classmates were fun; however having those conversations over pitchers at the GCB would have been icing on the cake.” 

Candy Doehlert Lingl retired in 2017 after 18 years with the J. Paul Getty Museum and Getty Publications. She writes: “We spent most of the first year living in an RV while gutting and remodeling our home in Camarillo, California (halfway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara) and installing a small vineyard. Look for our Casa Estaban label soon at Topa Mountain Winery, Ojai CA!”

Judith Foster writes: “I retired 10 years ago as principal of the Neighborhood School, a small progressive public school started by six teachers, including myself. Since then, I have been making pottery, traveling, working part-time for the Studio in a School association and playing with my grandchildren, along with my husband, Mark Andres ’74.”

Elie Hirschfeld writes: “I seem to like sports a lot, still. During the pandemic I ran the New York City Marathon, 50th Anniversary, virtually. I started out my front door opposite Central Park, ran four loops around the park and ended up at home. My wife, Sarah, was there all along with water and supplies. I biked 85 miles from New York City to my home in the Hamptons arriving before noon. And in March, I ran the New York City Half-Marathon, again in Central Park, virtually. I am registered for the New York City Triathlon and a couple other tri’s. Let’s see if I can do it.”

Caroline Gates Anderson, founder and president of BloomAgainBklyn, has been named to Crain’s New York Business “Notables in Nonprofits and Philanthropy” for 2021. Caroline was celebrated alongside other nonprofit and philanthropy executives for coming to the “rescue of a city gripped by disaster.” Caroline was previously highlighted in BAM; see https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2020-10-23/flower-power.

Class President Elie Hirschfeld reports: “Our 50th Reunion is now history. And, we also made history as the first virtual class reunions at Brown ever. Many classmates participated and all reports were good. But we all know, there is nothing like “in person.” Poet and author Anne Michaels famously wrote; ‘Reading a poem in translation… is like kissing a woman through a veil.’ I would add, but kissing through a veil is better than no kissing at all. With that in mind, we had a great reunion. The main event of the reunion was the panel discussion ‘My Life/My Brown,’ moderated by classmate Ralph Begleiter, former CNN world affairs correspondent. Panelists from the class included consultant Tom Acosta, voice of Siri and performance artist Susan Bennett, media executive Christy Carpenter, executive director of the National Center for Children and Families Sheryl Brissett Chapman, director of the National Museum of American History Spencer Crew, chair of Lincoln Center and director of Tishman Speyer Real Estate Kathy Farley, NASA astrophysicist Malcolm Niedner, affordable housing developer Josh Posner, executive director of the Schumann Fund Barbara Reisman, and trustee of Asia Foundation Ruby Shang. Following the panel discussion were breakout rooms where panelists continued discussions with classmates. The subjects of each breakout room were public interest institutions, student activism for life, eyes on the stars and earth, and media earthquakes. Rabbi Laura Geller led the memorial service to remember departed classmates. I was also invited to come to Brown during commencement to represent the class of 1971. I was interviewed for the welcome video that kicked off commencement weekend and walked through the Gates. Everything was so special for me this reunion, except I missed being with you. I missed seeing you, celebrating with you, and marching with you. Perhaps we can get together in person somehow, somewhere, soon. I am thinking about this a lot.”

Ross Fenton writes: “While at Brown, Vietnam veterans Edward Cundy ’68, Richard Gerace, Kenneth Kugel ’68, and I formed a Rhode Island chapter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Elise Lemire published a book with the University of Pennsylvania Press recounting our efforts over Memorial Day Weekend in 1971 to show the people of New England why the American War in Southeast Asia needed to end, and end immediately. Battle Green Vietnam: The 1971 March on Concord, Lexington, and Boston tells the story of how we walked Paul Revere’s route in reverse over three days. When we tried to stay on the Lexington Battle Green, we were rounded up in what remains the largest mass arrest in Massachusetts history. Lemire has made her book highly readable by recounting the march through the eyes of six of the march participants, me being one of them. It includes several photos of the other
Brown participants.”

Joe Haletky writes: “It’s been years since I’ve sent anything in, but I thought I’d try to catch people up. I’ve been in Palo Alto, California, for the last 48-1/2 years after four years in Ithaca, New York. I have enjoyed four different careers, three of which began at Brown. For more than 30 years I continued my financial aid job as a gifts assistant at the Rockefeller Library at both Cornell and Stanford after dropping out of both graduate programs. As a music major, I’ve sung in numerous groups since high school (sometimes even getting paid for it), and conducted a number of choirs and musical theatre and opera companies since my Ithaca days (again sometimes getting paid for it). Having turned anti-war in my last months at Brown, I became an activist, refusing induction while at Cornell, and since moving to California, became an advocacy and social ministry person through my church, where I conducted, and actually became cofounder, treasurer, and associate director of a major nonprofit homeless program (finally getting paid for it). That led to career #4, accountancy, at which I’m still working (now for a property management company for the last 20 years). My activism also continues as a volunteer as global missions chair for our regional Lutheran Synod. I’ve even gotten to travel internationally to El Salvador and Peru due to the latter involvement. In the meanwhile, I’ve been married twice with three grown kids, three stepkids, nine grandkids, and 14 great-grands. It’s been a full and rich life, and I’m thankful every day for it and for the education I got at Brown that helped me become who I am.”

Joel Bennett writes: “Fortunate to survive a bout with COVID in 2020, including three weeks in the hospital, but all better now.”

Martie Barylick ’69 MAT directed and produced Ballerina Boys, a portrait of the men of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a company of dancers who challenge the traditions of ballet art. Martie and her Emmy winning producing and directing partner, Chana Gazit, worked on the documentary for six years. It premiered on PBS’s American Masters in June. The website for the film is ballerinaboysfilm.com. 

Raoul Smith ’64 AM, ’68 PhD, former professor of Slavic Language and Literatures at Northwestern University, gave four lectures to the Beacon Hill Seminars in Boston on Orthodox Iconography. He is the former research fellow and editor of the Journal of Icon Studies at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Mass.  

Ned Clayton writes: “For my 80th birthday last year, my wife Stephanie and my daughters used the Tribute Program and asked family, friends, business associates, and Delta Phi Fraternity brothers to provide a video response. They sent out 130 invitations and received 115 responses. The videos were wonderful and the contributions contained many stories from the past. Whenever the shutdown got me down, I had these memories to bring sunshine into our home.”

John Andes published Tail Whip of the Black Dragon with Havah Publishing. John writes: “In the book, David Drummer, senior analyst in charge of interagency communications in the FBI’s Kansas City office, is planning his upcoming retirement with his lover Rachel. Instead of enjoying his last few months at the bureau, he comes face-to-face with several powerfully evil scenarios: a scandal of far-reaching consequences within the bureau, two apparently unrelated police killings three thousand miles apart, and grassroots rallies designed to rile the voting populace against foreigners.”

Arthur L. Levin ’62 AM spent the pandemic transferring last year’s booked Portugal and Paris trip to this year, apparently so he could now transfer it to 2022. But, more promisingly, he completed both vaccine shots and his first book, the latter published at COVID’s peak in 2020 via Amazon. He describes the book as “a happenstantial array of poetry and aphorisms, Mined Over Matters: Random Thoughts Reformed.”

Norman Bolotow writes: “After 49 years of living on the Warren River in Barrington, Rhode Island, I have relocated to Laurelmead, an adult cooperative community on Blackstone Boulevard in Providence, which is very close to where I grew up and my family lived until 1963.”

Class copresident Paul Lipsitt writes: “The Brown and Pembroke classes of 1950 met on April 30 to celebrate their 70th reunion, due to unforeseen circumstances held on our 71st year since graduation. A small but intrepid and enthusiastic group of classmates ventured into cyberspace to get together. In attendance were class copresidents Caroline Decatur Chick and Paul Lipsitt, class vice-president Russ Kinne, Shirley Lechtman Sallet, and Barry Schwartz. Guests included Brooke Kruger Lipsitt ’63 and Caroline’s granddaughter Melissa. The “cocktail party” included beer, wine, and Grey Goose vodka martinis in honor of  Sidney Frank ’42, whose sale of this brand enabled Brown’s then-largest donation to support need-blind admissions. A toast was given to the Brown and Pembroke classes of 1950. Caroline presented a slide show of earlier reunions accompanied by Brown students singing the alma mater. A proposal was presented by Paul and Caroline to gift the class treasury to Brown’s new Alzheimer’s Research Project. Last, but not least, in attendance was Jill Stange, our Alumni Relations liaison, without whom this event would not have happened.”