The Classes

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that Guido W. Imbens ’89 AM, ’91 PhD, a Stanford University economist, is one of three recipients of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He and his colleagues were awarded the prize in recognition of their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships. The Academy’s chair noted that “their work has revealed ways in which natural experiments—experiments that divide people into treatment and control groups naturally, without any scientific intervention—can answer important questions for society.”

Ian Taplin ’86 PhD, professor of sociology, management, and international studies at Wake Forest University, published The Napa Valley Wine Industry: The Organization of Excellence (Cambridge Scholars Press). This follows an earlier book published in 2020 entitled The Evolution of Luxury (Taylor Francis Press). 

Eswar Prasad ’86 AM writes: “I had a new book out in late September: The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance (Harvard University Press, September 2021). It covers cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin!) and central bank digital currencies (what a digital dollar might mean for our economy and society) and discusses how new technologies might help democratize finance but also has a lot of risks. The book’s website is futureofmoneybook.com. As you will see, the book has already received a smattering of pre-release media attention.”

Ann Marie Jodoin ’86 AM and Michael Hill Wright ’88 MD met, dated, and fell in love while at Brown. Graduation took them to different geographical locations and careers. Thirty-two years later, the two have reunited. They write that “they are now sharing life’s adventures together and enjoying every minute. Thank you Brown from both of us.”

Bethany Almeida ’19 PhD has been appointed assistant professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering at Clarkson University. Her research focuses on the design and fabrication of advanced, functional biomaterials to control stem cell behavior, applying concepts from organic chemistry, materials science, and stem cell biology to address fundamental science questions as well as develop clinically relevant biomaterial–stem cell therapies. She has been recognized for her research accomplishments through a number of awards and honors, including the 2020 BMES Career Development Award and as a Rising Star for the inaugural 2020 Rising Stars in Engineering in Health workshop hosted by Columbia. She has copublished in ACS Sensors, Molecules, Chemical Communications, ACS Nano, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, and Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, and has delivered other invited talks and conference presentations. She is a member of the National Association for Science Writers, International Society for Stem Cell Research, Materials Research Society, Society for Biomaterials, and Biomedical Engineering Society. Almeida previously served as an American Society for Engineering Education Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Olivia Mansion ’16 AM writes “I have a master’s in English education and cross-cultural studies. I cofounded Fairgrounds St. Pete, an immersive arts and technology experience in St. Pete, Florida. We were featured in Tampa Magazine, you can read it here: https://tampamagazines.com/fair-play/. A few fun facts about Fairgrounds St. Pete: The 15,000-square-foot Meow Wolf–style choose-your-own-adventure experience is the first of its kind in Tampa Bay. We commissioned more than 60 artists and technologists during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic to create the entirely artist-made environment. Fairgrounds St. Pete is elevating arts entertainment by breaking down barriers between the viewers, technology, and the art. Check out this video to learn more https://fairgrounds.art/ (See story, page 42.)”

Noah Giansiracusa ’11 PhD, an assistant professor of math and data science at Bentley University, published How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News. The book has gotten blurbs from Nobel laureate and former chief economist at the World Bank Paul Romer and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Jonathan Rauch. He writes: “I think it’s resonating with people now because of all the current discussion about misinformation on social media, especially with the recent clash between the Biden administration and Facebook over vaccine misinformation.”

Darline Berrios ’03 MAT writes: “I truly believe the landscape of education has changed forever. That’s why I decided to launch Berrios Educational Consulting to assist families, students, districts, or higher-education institutions. I have more than 20 years of varied expertise, experience, research, and depth of knowledge in both public and private education. One of the services I offer is academic support for students from third grade through college. I offer a unique lens on education with a focus on equity and diversity. All consultations are free. For more information, please visit DoctorBerrios.com.”

Bob Kerrigan writes: “Having just finished my rereading of Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, I wish to report that I have been practicing law for 50 years in and about New York City. I have no plans on retiring, nor do I wish to. Where does a lawyer retire to? Please be kind in your thoughts, or responses, to that rhetorical question. As a solo practitioner, my law practice includes unusual specialties, one of which concerns legal issues in the worldwide business of the distribution and sale of cut flowers. I have been an NGO representative at the UN and an arbitrator at the NASD. Still married to my bride of 50 years, we have two daughters, one of the Brown Class of 1999, and the other a graduate of Trinity College, two sons-in-law (really good guys), and four grandchildren, the eldest of whom is applying to college next year. Where? When asked by my five-year-old granddaughter what “I like and dislike,” I answered as to dislikes (carefully avoiding listing all) and to my granddaughter’s shock and dismay: whipped cream and maple syrup. Now my likes—growing roses without chemicals, doing yard work, walking, swimming, sailing, watching Masterpiece Theater and Frontline on PBS, sometimes tuning in to Chris Hayes ’01 on MSNBC, and reading nonfiction—including, but just sometimes, the AARP magazine. Almost forgot, I do not like using gerunds. I have heard, but cannot confirm, that the Class of 1970 is called the lost one. I can understand—but WHY?”

Rosie Mangiarotti was featured in Forbes in early September regarding her journey with her bra startup, Perkies. Perkies creates innovative undergarments for women to wear, most notably the only sticky bra with replaceable adhesives. Perkies was born out of Danny Warshay’s ENGN1010 class, “The Entrepreneurial Process.” Rosie pitched at the inaugural Brown Venture Prize competition in 2018, participated in Brown’s B-Lab and then pursued this venture after graduating. Her two investors are Brown alums as well: Liz Lange ’88 and Eliot Horowitz ’03.

Mia Aplin Rollins and Samuel Sebastian Pihan were married on Oct. 3, 2020, in a tiny ceremony at Mia’s grandfather’s retirement community in Exeter, N.H. In attendance were Mia’s parents Beth Aplin Conrad ’89 and Phillip Kent Rollins ’87, her grandfather, Richard Aplin, and Seb’s parents, Dr. Maria Vivaldi and Dr. German Pihan. Seb and Mia met the first day of their freshman orientation in the kitchen of Champlin where Mia was baking chocolate chip cookies. Mia writes: “Turns out we had ‘relation-chip’ goals.”

Cofounder of BestFit Asha Owens ’16 is one of the recipients of this year’s Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. She was one of 50 selected for the program, which is focused on high potential startups from Black entrepreneurs based in the U.S. BestFit is an early-stage startup addressing basic-needs insecurity among college students.

Maxine Joselow ’16 will anchor the Washington Post’s forthcoming daily newsletter, The Climate 202, covering the politics and policy of climate change, with a particular focus on what Washington decision-makers need to know. She joins the Washington Post from E&E News and has extensive experience covering the intersection of climate change, transportation policy, and environmental law. She is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Press Club.

Natasha Rao was selected as a 2021 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow by the Poetry Foundation as part of its annual Pegasus Awards.

Liz Young is overjoyed to announce her engagement to Maria Queen. The two connected online in 2018 over a shared interest in Dragon Ball Z. They now share a home in Hagerstown, Maryland, with two cats and a pug.

Sara D’Apolito Dworkin and Harrison Avart were married on Sept. 4. They were married at Grounds for Sculpture (N.J.) surrounded by their family and friends and many fellow Brown alumni.

Sonia Russo graduated from Emerge Colorado’s six-month-long candidate training program, which trains Democratic women to run for office. She was touched to have the support of several of her classmates, including Lisa Arias ’07, David Berliner, Kate Stoughton Berliner, Ojus Doshi ’08, Christopher Mun ’08, Ravi Ramanathan, and Sam Terman. Sonia was also listed in the American Bar Association’s 2021 “On the Rise Top 40 Young Lawyers” list and launched a podcast for the ABA called “Young Lawyer Rising” in April 2021, one episode of which featured Ravi Ramanathan. She’s currently training to run the 2021 Denver Colfax Marathon, which will be her second marathon. She hopes Brown classmates will be in touch if they’re in Denver.

Christopher M. Elias published his first book, Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation, in the spring of 2021. He currently serves as assistant professor of history at the American University in Cairo.

Paul Kowalski wrote to say that his film, Paper Tiger, was released Aug. 24, 2021, nationwide. The trailer is on YouTube at https://youtu.be/gHSje7ZoPVM and more information about the film is available on Wikipedia. For more about Paul, check out paulkowalski.com/bio.

Alina Engelman received tenure and promotion to associate professor of public health at California State University, 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 CDC as part of its daily credible health and safety updates.

Heather Nickerson, along with Ellen Goodwin, publicly launched their web and app based platform, Artifcts.com, in August 2021. Artifcts enables people to capture, preserve, and share the meaning and stories behind the objects in their lives. They would love to see some fellow Brown alums visit Artifcts and share their stories from College Hill.

Anne Ryan writes: “My debut novel, Christmas by the Book, was published by Penguin Putnam in October 2021. It’s a heartwarming story about a couple who run a bookshop in the Cotswolds that has fallen upon hard times.”

Yale News reported that Jennifer Richeson ’94, the Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed by the Biden Administration to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The panel advises the president and the White House on issues related to science, technology, education, and innovation policy. Jennifer was one of 30 leaders in science and technology to be named to the council. She is director of the Social Perception and Communications Lab at Yale and the recipient of numerous awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship.

Samantha Barlow Martinez writes: “During the 2020 quarantine, my old friend Professor Michael Maslanka at UNT Dallas College of Law invited me to co-author a law school textbook with him. Many months later, we finished Experiencing Employment Discrimination Law, published by West Academic Publishing in 2021. It is a departure from traditional textbooks and teaches practical day-to-day skills for litigators in this subject area. I continue to practice labor and employment law in the Houston area. I tried to convince my kids to apply to Brown, but they both wanted to be University of Texas Longhorns.”

William McCormick had his latest novel released Sept. 14. The international financial thriller, KGB Banker, was cowritten with whistleblower John Christmas (Dartmouth College ’90) and published by Milford House Press. Learn more about William’s writing at williamburtonmccormick.com.

Sidney Trantham started a new position as associate professor of practice in the Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology (CDEP) department in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College this fall.

Michelle Diffenderfer, Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A., president and shareholder, was elected Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (ABA SEER). An active member of the section for more than 25 years, her leadership within ABA SEER began as a committee vice chair in 2002. Since then, she has held various leadership positions within the organization, including education officer, budget officer, secretary, and most recently vice chair and chair-elect. She will serve a one-year term. She writes: “I am excited and honored to be named chair of the section. I grew up as an environmental lawyer in SEER and am thrilled to be able to give back to the section that provided me with mentoring, leadership experience, and so many friends through the years. My priorities include bringing us back together again in person at conferences to exchange information and ideas about environment, energy, and natural resources laws. I am also excited to continue the section’s work on diversity, inclusion, and equity for all our members and helping our section implement ABA’s Environmental Justice Resolution.” 

Jeff Stewart writes: “Breakaway Partners was acquired by Komodo Health. What is interesting is the high concentration of Brown folks on the Breakaway side! There is Andrew Laubscher ’07 (married to Amanda Puffer ’05, ’08 ScM), PJ Santoro ’04, and myself (married to Karen Steinig ’91, parent to two sons ’20 and ’24). Also on our team are Andrew Coggins ’18 and Dylan Groos ’19. A nice ‘conclusion’ to a gathering of several Brunonians across a few decades.” 

Ravi Chandra writes: “My debut documentary won ‘Best Film (Festival Director’s Award)’ at the 2021 Cannes Independent Film Festival and is now available to stream on Vimeo. ‘The Bandaged Place: From AIDS to COVID and Racial Justice’ is about grief, rage, identity, and meaning in this difficult time and features stories of three Asian American men: myself, poet/artist Truong Tran, and analyst/artist QiRe Ching. Find it at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bandagedplace.”

Lisa Mullins Marchiano published Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself. This book, a powerful chronicling of and deep-dive into the fairy tales and archetypes that shape our experiences of—and relations to—mothers and motherhood, is already heading into its second printing with its publisher (Sounds True), while it continues to receive increasing amounts of critical acclaim. In addition to this authorship, Marchiano is enjoying a successful career as a Jungian analyst & LCSW in private practice in Philadelphia, where she also teaches and is the creator and cohost of the This Jungian Life podcast.

Katherine Oxnard Ellis writes: “My short story, ‘Cabin,’ won Honorable Mention (second prize) in this year’s december magazine Curt Johnson Prose Awards, having appeared in the November 2021 issue under my pen name: K.W. Oxnard. After submitting to literary contests for more than 30 years, I’m thrilled to have finally won $500 and be featured alongside the other winners (two in fiction, two in nonfiction). My husband, Blake Ellis (Sewanee ’89), and I are now empty nesters, having sent our son Drew off to Vanderbilt University and given away the last of four lockdown chickens. Our daughter Jax is a senior at Bryn Mawr College and hopes to head to Kazakhstan after graduation. I’m still flipping houses with my brother Tom Oxnard (University of Georgia ’05) and also acquiring rental properties around Savannah, Georgia. The biggest family news is that my sister Robbie Oxnard Bent (Barnard College ’87) and her husband Dave Bent (Duke University ’86) just bought a house around the corner from us and plan to spend seven to eight months of the year in Savannah. We’re amassing quite the little family enclave in the SAV, which is fun and makes pandemic socializing a bit less stressful. Here’s to the medical miracle of vaccines, herd immunity, and the end of the COVID crisis worldwide in 2022.”

Brett Messing ’86 and Anthony Scaramucci will serve as portfolio managers for the newly launched First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy Exchange-Traded Fund, reports Business Wire. The fund will invest at least 80 percent of its net assets in crypto industry companies. The portfolio managers are jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund.

Carl Weinberg published his second book, Red Dynamite: Creationism, Culture Wars, and Anticommunism. It shows how conservative Christians have used anticommunism to demonize Darwin. Carl writes: “I look forward to conversations sparked by the book, which is available from Cornell Press as a free download and a paperback.”

Bob Lincoln published his first book, Night Tour.  He writes: “It’s a story of my experiences with the North Providence Fire Dept.and gives an inside look at what it’s like to be a firefighter/EMT. But more than that, it’s a fundraiser; my share of the proceeds goes to the Shriners Hospitals for Children who run the burn units in Boston and elsewhere, and also treat a number of illnesses and conditions that children encounter. The book is available at BarnesandNoble.com. I can be contacted at bob.lincoln@verizon.net.”

Simon Key writes: “After 27 years of building my company into the preeminent provider of software to forensic laboratories around the world, I’ve sold it and am an employee once again! For the past 15 years, I’ve split my time between homes in Arizona and the Big Island of Hawaii with Kerry Key, my wife of 34 years. I stay close to my two sons and two grandchildren and rebuild/repair classic British cars in my spare time. If you are ever in Arizona or Hawaii, I can provide local knowledge at the reasonable rate of a single beer.”

Anne Gorsuch writes: “Inspired by my history major at Brown, I had 25 deeply satisfying years working as a historian of the Soviet Union and as an academic leader at the University of British Columbia. Curious about how to better support deeper meaning, more perspective, and clearer purpose for myself and others, I also trained as an integral coach. I took early retirement to open a coaching practice: https://www.annegorsuch.com.”

Brian T. Moynihan ’81, CEO of Bank of America, hosted this year’s Latino Corporate Directors Association Convening in New York. Launched in October 2016, LCDA’s inaugural convening has become the most prominent gathering of U.S. Latinos at the highest levels of corporate leadership.The event brings more than 130 CEOs and C-suite executives to discuss boardroom issues, particularly the business case for board diversity and inclusion. Three corporations that have two or more U.S. Latinos on their boards received awards, including Regional Management Corp., where Peter Knitzer ’80 serves as president and CEO.

David LaFontaine writes: “This past year I piloted a course entitled ‘LGBT Themes in Literature’ at Massasoit Community College, where I have taught full-time in the English department for 25 years. This course is the first literature course devoted to this topic to be offered in any state college in Massachusetts. I decided to focus on classic authors whose sexuality served as a source of creative inspiration in their writing. Beginning with the sonnets of Shakespeare and concluding with the poetry of Mary Oliver, the course encourages students to utilize literature as a way to learn about and validate the experiences and history of LGBTQ people. Authors such as Lorraine Hansberry and
Carson McCullers are beginning to be understood more fully in terms of their sexuality. This is an exciting time in education for research and teaching pertaining to diversity. I welcome hearing from anyone who would enjoy learning more about the course and viewing the materials.”

Sandra Bromberg Eskin joined the Biden-Harris Administration in March as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A 1984 graduate of U.C. Hastings College of Law, she has worked on product safety and labeling issues, with a focus on food safety, for a range of consumer advocacy organizations since the1990s.

Jeffrey Graham writes: “I’m honored to be class vice president for the foreseeable future. I’m in touch with Jay McCulloch, who is teaching a memoir class in France, and I’ll be an attendee again in January of her Todos Santos Writers Workshop. I’m advisory board chair for the Center for Council (centerforcouncil.org), led by Jared Seide ’85, working for social and criminal justice through programs in prisons; law enforcement agencies; social service, nonprofit, and community-based organizations; schools; and private companies. Three Brown undergrads interned this summer and one continues with the work. They did great.”

RSG 3-D, founded by Ken Calligar, is quickly becoming seen as the leading building material for disaster resilience and energy efficiency, Ken writes. The company won the National Association of Home Builders 2020 Global Innovation Award for Leadership Product. It has been featured on FOX, CNBC, and CNN, and in TIME magazine and the Wall Street Journal. RSG 3-D buildings have survived California wildfires and hundreds of hurricanes. Projects range from the Four Seasons resort to multifamily and suburban homes. The company also offers the only disaster-resilient accessory dwelling units in North America and homeless shelters called “eco-modules.”

Seth Jackson signed a deal with independent label Recursion Records. His music can be found online at all major streaming platforms under the name Seth Hilary Jackson.

Dr. Howard Frumkin ’77, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health, has joined the Trust for Public Land as a senior vice president. He will lead the establishment of an institute focused on advancing solutions to society’s biggest challenges through parks and public lands using research, data analysis, innovation, and public support. He is the author of more than 300 scientific journals, chapters, and books, including textbooks on general environmental health, planetary health, and the built environment.

Sandy Posa, cofounder and CEO of Force of Nature, was featured in INC. magazine’s “5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.” Force of Nature, an environmentally friendly cleaning and sanitizing product, was ranked #405. See page 148 in the September 2021 issue.

Peter Hollmann ’79 MD, chief medical officer at Brown, was appointed to lead the American Geriatrics Society, a national society of 6,000 healthcare professionals across the United States. The one-year term ends in 2022.

Marcia Spindell Lentz writes: “I have moved from the East Side of Providence to Kettle Point development. As I told my close friends, I’ve moved from a 100+-year-old house to a brand new condo supporting my mantra/motto of making my life happy and simple. As I’ve driven around Brown, there’s a lot going on in that area—a lot of development… Awesome! It’s not quite the Brown that we attended. However, it is still a wonderful school and I have the honor of being one of its graduates. Thank you to all who helped make it some wonderful years.”

Dick Wingate married his longtime girlfriend Renée Mandis on Aug. 26 at the Foundry in New York City. They were thrilled to have their combined families at the event, as well as Steve Meredith and Jim Zisson. Dick continues to operate DEV Advisors, a media and entertainment consulting firm, and Renee is cofounder of WSAA, a Westport, Conn., advertising agency. They live in Weston, Conn.

Jay Davis writes: “I am retiring from the practice of law after 31 years, the last six years primarily representing children in foster care and juvenile delinquents. From 1999 to 2015, I was a Pennington County public defender. I spent seven years with Legal Services and two years in private practice before that. Trite to say that ‘we’ll travel more’ since we’ve traveled just fine anyway. Still active in the local Democratic Party and the Sierra Club, among other things. Still living in Rapid City, South Dakota.”

Brad Cruickshank writes: “Although I’m still running my diversified construction company here in Atlanta, I am traveling once again. I am saddle-sore from six days horseback riding in the Bridger Wilderness in Wyoming. We camped at 9,200 feet and rode out to fish various high mountain lakes each day—up to 10,200 feet. Next month, my wife Denise and I will return to Los Barriles on Mexico’s East Cape for blue marlin, sailfish, and tuna, as well as an ATV tour into the desert.”

Vic Weinstein writes, “I’m in my final year as chairman of Ashley River Ob/Gyn as I plan on retiring in June 2022. I’ve had a wonderful rewarding career and will miss my practice and patients but it’s time to move on. I have been collecting antique perfume bottles since 1981. For about the past 25 years I have concentrated exclusively on English cameo bottles, which were produced only from about 1880 to 1905. Working with two friends from the International Perfume Bottle Association, Barbara Miller and Gayle Syers, I authored the book English Cameo Perfume Bottles, published in 2021. It is definitely a niche publication but is a lovely coffee table book with a chapter on the history and technique of cameo glass production and images of more than 350 bottles. With COVID we’ve sold exclusively through eBay or by contacting me at vweinsteincameo@gmail.com.”

Charlie Terry writes: “I retired from both work and playing rugby two years ago, though I may recant on the rugby, body willing. I am living full-time on Cape Cod with Nancy, life partner of 47 years. Nancy, my dog, and Liz and Emily, do their best at keeping me grounded, as I still try to figure out the meaning of life. (Wasn’t that the MOT course that gave the credit that allowed me to actually graduate?) Happy to connect: cterry@aol.com.”

Joe Petteruti, past class president, has written and published A Night She’d Remember. It is the true story of Joe’s grandmother, a Titanic survivor, and includes many wonderful family pictures. It was published by class officer Thelma Austin and her company, My Family Voices.

Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder professor of English and American Studies and professor emeritus of history at Northwestern University, published Chicago’s Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City with Grove Atlantic. 

Ricker Winsor writes: “I still teach full-time in China and Japan. I am a permanent expat in Indonesia with my Chinese wife, Jovita, and two dogs, Sniper and Nana. We have a three-year-old grandson, Auron, who is a lucky boy. Most of what I have done is on my author page at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00GU143TW or my blog: rickerw.com.”

Sharon Drager writes: “Commencement is scheduled for May 29, 2022, and your class officers and reunion committee are already planning for our 55th that weekend. Look out for further information as we get closer to the date. You can expect updates via email, so please be sure that Brown has your correct address. We also encourage you to visit the private Brown class of ’67 page on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you in May.”

Louise Vitiello Burroughs writes: “Mel (my husband of 52 years) and I just moved to a new home in Whispering Woods, an over-55 community in Middletown, Delaware, where we are just three miles from our daughter Rachel and her family (Dr. Greg Cannon, her daughters Brooklyn and Hazel, his son and daughter, and their three gorgeous ragdoll cats). This is the first new house we have ever lived in and we are enjoying its proximity to family and to woods, as well as its ease of living with all essentials on one floor. Our son Nathan ’00 lives with his wife Meaghan Benante Burroughs and their three children (Ava, Myles, and Preston) in Madison, New Jersey. Ava is a freshman at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, where she is on the crew team and has been cast with a speaking/singing role in the school play. During the COVID crisis we developed the ability to work remotely and so Mel and I are still able to work full-time. I work as senior vice president for development for CSMI, LLC, a charter school consulting company in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Mel works for Chester Community Charter School. I hope to attend our 55th reunion in May 2022. I missed our 50th because I had been in a car accident earlier in the spring. I am mostly healed from that trauma but will work out this winter to be ready to walk up College Hill.”

The Reunion Committee reports: “It's time to start planning to attend our 55th reunion, which will be held the last weekend in May (27-30, 2022) along with graduation. Once the class officers clear our planned activities with the University, we will inform you so you can make your plans. Watch for Bravo announcements, but most importantly, hold the date and prepare to come! Remember to pay your class dues: $67 or more, if you like, since this is what we use to cover our expenses while planning the event. Copy the URL into your browser bar to pay your dues: http://brown.edu/go/Class-of-1967-Dues.”

Henry D. Anderson writes: “After 38 years in Gaithersburg, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., my wife Gail and I moved to Cornelius, North Carolina, a suburb of fast growing Charlotte, in March 2020. This was a challenging move for us because we moved the first week of the pandemic shutdown and also brought my wife’s 100-year-old mother with us. But we made it and are enjoying being close to our two children and their families, who live in the area and provided the reason for selecting this locale. We live in an over-55 active adult community. There are lots of activities to keep us busy and we enjoy taking our grandchildren to the pool. We have gotten our COVID vaccines and so far have avoided getting the virus. We are looking forward to the time when we can travel again. I retired as a senior engineer from Lockheed Martin in 2010. I spent a good part of my career working on the control system for GPS so it’s very gratifying to see how widely used it has become.”

Paul Goldberg writes: “We live full-time in a motorhome since I retired as a financial planner in 2012. We are ‘bicoastal,’ with children in California and Virginia. We spend a lot of time in the spaces in between. In addition to traveling in all 50 states, we also traveled much of the world when we could. Since COVID-19 we have been in weekly Zoom meetings with David Lovenheim (he and I went to grade school and high school as well), David London, and Toby Parker London ’65. The other two women did not attend Brown, but my wife, Ann Carol, was in grade school with us. If anyone would like to meet, our route is always flexible—avoiding cold and snow in the winter is paramount.”

Martha McCauley Anderson, Barbara Smith Langworthy and Bill Silverman write that along with Norm Alt, Carter Booth, Jennifer Ketay Brock, Glenn Cashion, Elaine Piller Congress, Dewey Moser ’64, Bob Phillips, Ernst Rothe, and Bill Van Ness, they attended a celebration of the life of Dayton Carr [Obituaries, November-December 2020] on Sept. 30 at the New York Yacht Club. “On September 30, classmates, colleagues, family, and friends of Dayton Carr gathered in the famous Model Room at the New York Yacht Club, where Dayton was a trustee for six years, to celebrate his life after his passing on April 7, 2020. Other Class of ’63 members, and alums from other classes, joined the celebration on closed circuit television. Glenn Cashion spoke about Dayton’s activities at Brown, including Dayton’s term as Commodore of the Brown Sailing Club following his friend, another distinguished Brown sailor, Ted Turner. Glenn recounted, among other collegial efforts, how Dayton hosted classmates on his yacht in Newport, where he was active in the Preservation Society of Newport County. Brown was included in Dayton’s many philanthropic interests. Contributions in memory of Dayton may be made to the Brown University Class of 1963 National Scholarship. It was clear from all the various speakers that Dayton was a Renaissance man who was loved and respected and was ever true to Brown and the Class of ’63. He is happily remembered and celebrated
by his classmates.”

Judy Wessells writes: “The good news is that I wake up each day instead of the alternative. I’ve been looking forward to a high school reunion in Hawaii—if we are allowed to travel.”

George Wales writes from Tucson, Arizona: “Unfortunately, health issues preclude my attendance at our 60th reunion. Some local good news: both daughters, Katie ’90 and Lauren ’90, live nearby here. Also, Katie married her longtime partner, Erika. Much happiness all around. Son Herrick continues as a special ed teacher in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He’s eyeing retirement out here in three years. I shall miss greeting my classmates in person.”

Katharine Pierce writes: “My husband and I live in Niagara County, New York, on the Canadian border, for proximity to children and grandchildren in Toronto. Until limited by COVID realities, I had been fully active in addressing issues of extreme poverty and violence in the City of Niagara Falls, enjoying the privilege of working with others, including on the streets, to provide safety, food, and encouragement. I’m maintaining commitments to lifelong interests, including libraries and literacy, improving the lives of children, and Planned Parenthood. I’m concerned about civility and kindness in society and I’m interested in expansion of access to technology, locally and worldwide.”

Gene Kopf and his wife Linda continue to enjoy the paradise of Jupiter Island, Florida. They regularly go to old residence areas in the North Carolina mountains and they went to Rhode Island in August/September for family and friend reunions. Gene regularly attends classes at Florida Atlantic University, and he attends plays and musicals at local theaters. He runs and exercises daily and loves it.

John Donovan writes: “I’m living in Boca Raton, Florida, with my wife Phyllis after selling our home of 35 years. I’ve been retired since 1998 and spending summers in the Hartford area visiting family, including two great-grandsons. We will be celebrating 60 years of marriage at next year’s Brown graduation.”

John Calhoun writes: “After graduating from Brown, I attended the Episcopal Divinity School. While obtaining my bachelor of divinity degree in Cambridge, I found myself deeply involved in anti-Vietnam War and civil rights protests in Cambridge, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington. I taught in Philadelphia for a year then journeyed to Boston, where I joined the War on Poverty. I worked with kids in the Neighborhood Youth Corps, helped to coordinate recruitment for the Job Corps, and ran the Summer Work and Recreation Program for the City of Boston. I worked with prisoners through a private consulting firm, then started my own firm, Justice Resource Institute, which pioneered pretrial diversion and restorative justice programs. For my “RJ” work I received a major award from the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1974, Gov. Michael Dukakis appointed me to serve as the State’s Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services. DYS’s success prompted the Massachusetts Legislature to award me its Certificate of Commendation for ʻOutstanding Work on Behalf of the Commonwealth.’ The success of the ʻMassachusetts Experiment’ came to the attention of officials in the Carter White House, who invited me to serve as the U.S. Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families, a position giving me jurisdiction over such programs as Head Start, foster care, domestic violence, and family support initiatives. For 20 years I served as president of the National Crime Prevention Council. I’ve written and published Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America; Through the Hourglass: Poems of Life and Love; and Policy Walking: Lighting Paths to Safer Communities, Stronger Families, and Thriving Youth. Following my 20 years at the National Crime Prevention Council, I joined the National League of Cities as a consultant, first helping to set up, then directing, the California Cities Violence Prevention Network. I continue to consult on occasion for the National League of Cities in addition to keeping up a fairly busy public speaking schedule.”

Leslie Armstrong writes: “The women in our class, and some of the men, owe a huge debt to Dale Burg and Helene Schwartz Kenvin for bringing us together far more often than we ever were before the pandemic—Dale with her gift for putting people together and making them laugh, and Helene’s for editing and publishing a Pembroke class newsletter (80 issues as of Oct. 1, 2021) featuring essays from any Pembroke classmate fool enough to set pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, plus Helene’s own research and commentary on the assigned topic of the week. For myself, I am lucky to be fairly fit and still working both as a writer and as an architect, although the latter at a much reduced scale as I am also caring for my 93-year-old husband, John Bowers. I’m still living in the small brownstone I bought and renovated in 1967. Kids are good. No one in jail. On the whole, life is good.”

John Knubel writes: “Our classmates have called me ‘blue and gold set on a brown background’ because I left Brown to attend the Naval Academy after freshman year because I couldn’t get into the Naval ROTC unit at Brown. I hope the class might like to know that I’ve copublished two books in the past two years.”

The Land Report announced that Ted Turner ’60 donated one of his bison ranches in the Sandhills of Western Nebraska to serve as the cornerstone of the brand-new Turner Institute of Ecoagriculture, a nonprofit agricultural research organization. Its objectives are to explore the intricacies of sustainable natural ecosystems and related human economies to promote healthy soil, grass, water, and wildlife populations while helping ranchers and farmers. 

James Noonan of Oldwick, N.J., attended St. Raphael’s Academy in Pawtucket, R.I., where he played basketball and golf (captain), and was on the track team. An engaged alum, he has become very active within the last ten years, both donating and raising money. Because of this dedicated activity he has been elected to the St. Ray’s Hall of Fame and, along with three others, will be fêted on April 2, 2022.

James Mello writes: “Our son, Roger, and his wife and I have started a woodworking business called Mellowood. Our principal product is Adirondack chairs, but we make other items as well.” 

Joe Gerstein writes: “After a successful pilot in sober homes and reentry programs in Oregon, Montana, and Kentucky, in conjunction with the Fletcher Group (Ernie Fletcher, a former Governor of Kentucky), I was able to obtain a grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration to introduce the SMART Recovery (Self-Management Addiction Recovery Training) ‘Successful Life Skills with InsideOut Tools’ correctional program (funded by NIDA) into 100 rural county sober homes and reentry programs throughout the United States. The SMART Recovery Program is evidence-based, abstinence-oriented, and self-empowering. Its free, mutual-aid meetings, which are run by trained facilitators, are available in 23 countries: smartrecovery.org.”

Benita Saievetz Herman writes that she and her husband, Ken, married 62 years, are still in the family homestead in Wyckoff, N.J. Ken is a retired psychologist and WWII veteran. Bennie is winding down her 40-year old practice of being a travel advisor specializing in small ship cruising. “This happened because of Alice Emmert Ward’s speech in Chapel about the Experiment in International Living. In the summer of 1954 I lived with a family in Calais, France and made a lasting friendship with the Baras family and a huge connection to travel. After raising four wonderful humans, occupational therapy no longer held my interest as a career. This is when I returned to my love of travel as a serious endeavor. Always athletic, I combined volunteerism at the Barnert Temple of Franklin Lakes, N.J., where I am a lifetime trustee, and long-distance running training. Miss Rudd of the physical education department would have been proud to see me running 12 marathons with a PR of 4:49 at age 60. An original founder of the Chattertocks, I returned to Brown on the 50th anniversary of the successful a capella group’s milestone and spoke of the campus sensation they created. We have nine grandchildren, four in college. Sorry that we missed our 65th reunion with so many ever-true memories. I am forever grateful for my Brown experience.”

Peter Mayerson writes: “My wife, Lois, and I still greatly enjoy living in Denver, where we have resided now for 57 years. We are both fortunately still in good health. I have long been retired from my practice of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. I belong to a great organization called ‘The Skimeisters,’ which is a group of active 55-or-older people who downhill and cross country ski in the winter and bike and hike in the summer. I’ve lost touch with all of my classmate friends and would like to reconnect with any of you who are still around. Contact me at pmayerson@gmail.com or (303) 903-0930.” 

Ted Barrows writes: “To my friends of the class of 1955—Greetings! Jackie and I have faced this last year by taking “bubble” vacations. We have rented houses on the beautiful North Carolina shore and experienced the foliage in the Great Smoky Mountains. We’ve found a lovely home on a stream to enjoy the views, give the dogs good space to run and take in a train trip through the mountains. We miss our classmates and the fun times at football games and reunions. What great memories. I’ve included a picture of me at our beach vacation with our water-loving golden retriever, Pizoo. If you find your way to North Carolina, our door is always open.”

Class Secretary Marshall Cohen reports: “Brown Class of 1954 officers and their wives met at Gregg’s restaurant in Providence at a small informal reunion to share stories and briefly discuss the upcoming reunion only a few short years away. We expect that for our 70th reunion we can, based on the reunions in previous classes, expect between 30-50 participants. We also expect that all functions will be close to the campus, and, similar to our 65th reunion, will include lunches and dinners at such nearby and walkable venues as the Hope Club and the University Club, as well as the all too familiar Ratty. As a gift to what is our final ‘official’ Brown reunion (many more will follow of course), Brown usually offers free housing on campus. None of the above has been confirmed yet, but is likely. Those in attendance included: Class President Ed Bishop and his wife, Mary; Class Treasurer Frank Wezniak and his wife Nan; and myself and wife, Arlene.”

Mordecai Rosenfield writes: “This is to note the publication of my seventh collection of essays, Passing the Pandemic Day. Earlier collections have received such praise as, “No matter the mood in which it may be written, any Rosenfeld essay can be a tonic to restore the spirits” (Dee Brown). I attended our 70th Zoom Reunion and it was good to see some old friends I hadn’t seen for too many years. Paula and I still reside in Greenwich Village. I am able to get about using my walker if it’s not too hot or too humid or too this or too that.”

Gloria Markoff Winston writes: “Wow, can you believe we will be having our 74th reunion in 2022?! Will you join me in making this a very special celebration of the Spirit of ’48? I would love to hear all about you, so let’s catch up on 74 years. Here’s a quick update from me, president of the Class of ’48. I am retired in Providence, R.I., living at Laurelmead with many, many Brown professors and alums. I have three children, 12 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren. Can you beat my great-grandchildren record?”

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. 

 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.