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CLASS NOTES
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
CLASS NOTES
W.Va. In addition to the boring
stuff, I married my wife, Alana, and
have a son, Benji (2). I live outside
Morgantown, W.Va.; would love to
connect with any Columbians who
find themselves in northern West
Virginia. I can be reached at eddie@
goddardlawwv.com.”
Michelle Schwartz writes, “I live
in Manhattan with my husband
and two kids, a boy and a girl (the
second born in October). I’m a trusts
and estates attorney at Fulbright &
Jaworski.”
Lisa Bearpark (née Pettersson)
writes, “I gave birth to a son on
April 7, and [at this writing] my
husband and I are planning to
move to Stockholm, Sweden, in
June, leaving New York after 13
years. Still going strong with
theatre, producing and acting but
taking a break to be a mother for
the next couple of months. I was
sad to miss the 10-year reunion
but with everything going on, it
was not possible. I’m sure it was a
blast and I send my best wishes to
everyone who was there!”
Anne Melzer writes, “I’m a
pulmonary and critical care fellow
at the University of Washington.
I’m working on my master’s of
epidemiology, doing research in
smoking cessation. I spent last year
with my husband working at a
rural hospital in Alaska.”
Joshua Marks writes, “I am
completing my general surgery
residency at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital this June, after
having spent this past year as an administrative
chief resident. In July,
I will start a fellowship in trauma,
surgical critical care and emergency
general surgery at the Hospital of
the University of Pennsylvania.”
Leah Rorvig writes, “I spent a
weekend recently in Bloomington,
Ind. While there I celebrated
with Leah Miller-Freeman, who
recently got an M.F.A. in painting
from Indiana University. Her
students made this segment about
her: journalism.indiana.edu/class
work/j210_stlayton_spring2013/
living-outside-the-lines.
“I have one year left toward my
M.D. at UC San Francisco and I’ll
apply to residency in family medicine
this fall.”
Stefanie Weisman is thrilled to
announce the publication of her
first book, The Secrets of Top Students:
Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Acing
High School and College, a guide for
the high school and college set on
how to achieve academic success.
It’s based on her own experience
— she was valedictorian of Stuyvesant
and received the Albert
Asher Green Memorial Prize for
the highest G.P.A. in our Columbia
class — as well as the insight of
45 other outstanding students.
You can get in touch with Stefanie
through her blog, valedictorians
guide.com, or follow her on Twitter
@StefanieWeisman.
REUNION WEEKEND
MAY 29–JUNE 1, 2014
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Vanessa Scott
vs2470@columbia.edu
212-851-9148
DEVELOPMENT Esfir Shamilova
es3233@columbia.edu
212-851-7833
Angela Georgopoulos
200 Water St., Apt. 1711
New York, NY 10038
aeg90@columbia.edu
04
I hope that you are all doing well
and enjoying the warmer weather,
which here in New York took
longer than usual to grace us with
its presence. As always, here’s a
friendly reminder to send in your
news and updates — don’t be shy!
Feel free to email me at aeg90@
columbia.edu or via CCT’s webform:
college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_class_note.
Eric A. Smith has been named
COO at Crowdnetic, a provider of
transparency-enabling technologies
and data to the private investment
and crowd-funded securities industry.
Previously, he was employed
at Union Bancaire Privée, a Swiss
private bank.
Congrats, Eric!
Congratulations also go out to
Roy Altman, who was recently
awarded the Federal Prosecutor
of the Year Award in the Southern
District of Florida.
We have a slew of job news.
Anjlee Khurana practices entertainment
law in Nashville. She
writes that the local music scene is
second to none.
Jon Schalit was married in
November 2012 and is an associate
corporate attorney at Blank Rome
in Los Angeles.
Jax Russo is senior counsel,
director for Heineken USA, and
Matthew Abrams recently was
promoted to partner at the law
firm of Russo & Burke.
Crystal Proenza moved to
Miami in 2008 and recently was
promoted to v.p. of marketing for
Colliers International|South Florida
Commercial Real Estate Services.
In March, Oleg Ilitchev accepted
a role as s.v.p. and CFO of
U.S. operations of Argo Group, a
global property and casualty insurance
and reinsurance business.
Jenn Martinez recently joined
Compete (a Kantar Media company)
as sales director for retail,
CPG and technology. She looks forward
to providing customers with
digital behavioral insights and
media measurement solutions and
welcomes inquiries or emails from
classmates who want to catch up.
Jenn planned to complete her first
half-marathon in April in Washington,
D.C. — the Nike Women’s
Half Marathon— with friends and
family, including Diana Tyson Mc-
Callum, cheering her on!
Eugene Cho graduated from
St. George’s University’s School of
Medicine in April and will spend
the next three years completing an
emergency medicine residency at
the University of Connecticut.
C. Colin Brinkman wrote, “I
married Julianna von Zumbusch
in 2009. I received a Ph.D. in microbiology
and immunology from the
University of Virginia in 2010 and
now am a post-doctoral fellow at
the University of Maryland School
of Medicine in Baltimore working
on regulatory T-cell migration
and function in organ transplant
tolerance.”
Congratulations to Allison Sudol
Bechtel and her husband, who
welcomed twins Cassidy and Chase
on October 3 and are enjoying life
as a family of four. She is completing
her anesthesia residency at UVa.
and will start a cardiothoracic anesthesia
fellowship at Emory in July.
Eva Gardner ’06 GSAS graduated
from NYU Law in 2011 and
promptly moved to Alaska. She is
in her second year clerking for a
federal district court judge in Anchorage
and spends her free time
engaged in backcountry skiing,
mountain biking, ski marathons,
glacier-gazing and other perfectly
ordinary Alaskan activities. She
encourages anyone planning a trip
north to reach out.
After five years in finance, Esther
Chung decided to do a post-bac
and apply to medical school; she
now is at Weill Cornell Medical College.
She also had her first child as
she was applying to medical school.
Congrats, Esther!
In February, Tricia Bozyk Sherno
and her husband, Joseph Sherno,
welcomed their first child, Charles
Miles. They live in Jersey City and
Tricia has been a litigation associate
at Debevoise & Plimpton in New
York for the past five years.
Katie Zien writes, “In August,
I defended my dissertation and
joined the faculty of McGill’s English
department. I’ve had an excellent
year teaching theatre and performance
studies to undergraduate
and graduate students in Montreal,
and I am preparing for a summer of
research and conferencing in various
locales throughout the Americas. I
am looking forward to transforming
my dissertation, which treats theatre
history in the Panama Canal Zone
throughout the 20th century, into a
book manuscript.”
David J. Johns ’06 TC is now the
first executive director of the White
House Initiative on Educational
Excellence for African Americans.
Previously, he was a senior
education policy adviser to the
U.S. Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions
and also was a Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation Fellow.
Thanks to everyone who contributed
to this edition of Class
Notes. Keep them coming!
05
Claire McDonnell
47 Maiden Ln., 3rd Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94108
claire.mcdonnell@
gmail.com
Whether it’s chicken coops, art
museums, new babies, operas or
endodontics, the Class of 2005 has
been up to some big things lately.
Perhaps that’s not so surprising in
this year that many of us turn 30!
Speaking of birthdays, I had a
blast at my 30th birthday party in
March in San Francisco. Columbians
in attendance included
Vanessa Carr, Beverly Chung ’09
Business, Patrick Cushing ’06E,
Niko Klein, Ramsey McGlazer,
Diego Pontoriero ’07E, Tom Pyun
’07 PH, Bartek Ringwelski, Marija
Ringwelski ’09 PH and Ted Summe
’06E.
Kristian Hansen has been busy
building chicken coops — his
company, Laughing Chickens,
makes rustic coops from reclaimed
redwood fences and sells
planting boxes, composters, chalkboards
and doghouses nationwide
through Williams-Sonoma.
Luis Saucedo earned an M.B.A.
from Yale in 2012 and is a Presidential
Management Fellow at Ginnie
Mae, where he works on housing
finance policy and government and
industry communications. Ginnie
Mae provides a government guarantee
on mortgage-backed securities
backed by government-insured
mortgages. It is a federal agency
within the Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
Steve Mumford reports, “In 2012,
I moved from Seattle to Washington,
D.C., to begin a Ph.D. program in
public policy and administration at
The George Washington University,
concentrating in program evaluation.
So far, I love being back on the
East Coast, despite the superstorms,
and look forward to reconnecting
with Columbians in the area.”
Michelle Kraics was promoted
in January to director at Citigroup
in the Municipal Securities Division.
Ru Hockley writes, “At Claire’s
urging and out of a desire to support
her foray into Class Notes
correspondence, I am submitting
my first update! Condensed life
summary: In the shockingly large
number of years since Columbia
graduation, I have lived in NYC,
Laos and San Diego. I worked at
The Studio Museum in Harlem,
taught English and traveled
widely, and pursued (OK, am still
pursuing) a Ph.D. in art history at
UC San Diego. This year, I happily
find myself back in NYC after
accepting a curatorial position in
contemporary art at the Brooklyn
Museum — so far, so delightful.
Between work, dissertation-writing
and re-acclimating to NYC (in itself
a full-time job), life is a little hectic,
but I couldn’t be happier to be here
doing what I love at one of NYC’s
great institutions. Come visit!”
Dan Binder reports, “Aside from
my day job at Episcopal H.S. in
Houston, I’ve been volunteering at
the Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo, the nation’s largest rodeo. I
also am a member of the Board of
Trustees of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal
School in Houston.”
Brendon-Jeremi Jobs says, “I’m
listening to Invisible Man on Audible
for the first time and it’s blowing
my mind. ‘Remember, your power
is in your invisibility.’ I’m only sorry
that it took me so long to find the
time to [discover] this hallmark of
the Renaissance. My life as a teacher
continues to grow more complex
and purposed with each year. I was
recently voted onto the Board of
Directors for Germantown United
Community Development Corp.
I also am on the teacher advisory
board for the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.”
Michael Sin writes, “I’m a real
estate agent at TOWN Residential
in the 730 Fifth Ave. office, focusing
on sales and rentals in Manhattan
and Brooklyn. I can be reached
at msin@townrealestate.com if
anyone is interested in getting an
update on New York real estate or
just wants to catch up over coffee.”
Ellen Reid announces, “My
opera, Winter’s Child, was part
of a new opera workshop at the
Hammer Museum in Los Angeles
on June 1: wildup.la/events/firsttake-west-coast-opera-workshop.
I’m also composing music for a new
production of Prometheus Bound at
the Getty Villa in Los Angeles in
September: us1.campaign-archive1.
com/u=f0ca2d2aefbeac1ecf2e2518
c&id=a74a3ad991.”
Matthew Jalandoni says, “I have
been on active duty as a captain in
the Army JAG Corps since graduating
from the University of Wisconsin
Law School in 2010. I met my
wife, Darcy Copeland Jalandoni, at
Wisconsin Law and we were married
in her hometown of Columbus,
Ohio, on September 29.”
Syga Thomas has launched
MAONO, a luxury clothing design
and manufacturing company. “We
create luxury staples to outfit the
movers, shakers and influencers of
the world, kicking the middleman
Matthew Jalandoni ’05 married Darcy Copeland in Columbus, Ohio, on September 29. Among the
Columbians in attendance (all CC ’05 unless noted) were: back row, left to right: Olivier Manigat, Greg
Jones, John Reuter, Paul Hlavaty, Ravi Desai and Ali Manigat; middle row, left to right: Jonathan Shukat,
Tracy Reuter, Ben Supple, Joe Ward, Nnamdi Ofodile, Paul Santiago, Sety Britton ’05E, Chuck Britton,
Jason Auguste and Diana Auguste ’06; and front row, left to right: the groom, the bride and Jeff Otis.
PHOTO: PICTURE THE LOVE
out of the process. Be the movement,”
Syga says.
Hao Tran is engaged to Elizabeth
“Lizi” Chorney ’05E. Hao
proposed to Lizi on December 12
on the Low Steps, where they met.
Lizi is a radiology resident at Mt.
Sinai Hospital, having graduated
from Geisel School of Medicine at
Dartmouth in 2010. Hao graduated
from NYU College of Dentistry
in 2012. He is a dental resident at
Yale-New Haven Hospital and will
pursue an endodontics fellowship
at Temple thereafter.
Bindu Suresh inquires, “I’m a
newly minted medical doctor and
am starting a residency program
in pediatrics in Ottawa in July —
that’s a major life event, no”
Yes, Bindu, it is! As are some
Class of 2005 babies.
Rebecca (Pollack) Kee announces,
“Another John Jay 11 baby has
been born! Bill Kee and I, who
met on John Jay 11, recently had
our second son, Benjamin Michael,
born in San Francisco on January
5. We look forward to instilling in
him the same love of Nussbaum
& Wu bagels that we have in our
older son, James (2).”
Natasha Shapiro and her husband,
Vladimir Kovtun, had a
daughter, Elizabeth Sydney, on
January 11.
Becca Israel writes, “On October
24, I gave birth to a son, Aviv Moshe.
He’s 4 months old, laughs at everything
and has discovered his feet,
which he finds fascinating. I live in
D.C. and work at DOJ but am moving
my family to Boston this fall to
clerk for a judge in the [U.S. District
Court, District of Mass.].”
Thanks for the updates!
06
Michelle Oh Sing
9 N 9th St., Unit 401
Philadelphia, PA 19107
mo2057@columbia.edu
Carly Miller moved back to her
hometown of Minneapolis in October
after a wonderful 10 years of
living in New York City. In December,
she started working at the Best
Buy Corporate offices as a product
manager in social commerce.
This is the first retail company on
her resume, as she’s worked at
companies such as A&E Television
Networks, Scholastic Publishing,
Fox News and Thomson Reuters.
Seth Wainer recently became
the senior technology policy adviser
to the Office of Mayor Cory
Booker in Newark, N.J.
Mike Brown Jr. recently left his
post at AOL Ventures to start his
own $30 million venture capital
fund, Bowery Capital. The fund
launched to the public in May
and is based in New York and
San Francisco, with a focus on
investing in the next generation of
enterprise software companies.
Ross Gabrielson ’12 Business
writes, “Well, 2012 was a big
year. My wife and I are proud
to announce that our daughter,
Madeline, was born on October 13.
Maddie already is a real character
and has a great sense of humor.
It is so much fun being a dad. A
special thank you to those of you
in the Class of 2006 who helped
welcome Maddie into the world
— especially Danny Concepcion,
who was at the hospital even
before my parents arrived! Earlier
in 2012, I graduated from the Business
School and started working at
a fund called Eachwin Capital.”
Ganesh Betanabhatla recently
joined Talara Capital Management
as a managing director. He will
assume primary responsibility for
building the firm’s E&P private
equity investment platform and
will be jointly based in New York
City and Houston.
Talibah L. Newman ’13 Arts’
thesis film, Sweet Honey Child, de–
buted at the Columbia University
Film Festival. Her short film, Busted
on Brigham Lane, recently was on
HBO On Demand and HBO GO.
She is working on her first feature,
which she will direct and write.
The new Vampire Weekend
album, Modern Vampires of the City,
was released on May 14. The band
features our own Ezra Koenig,
Rostam Batmanglij and Chris
Tomson, as well as Chris Baio ’07.
[Editor’s note: See Alumni in the
News.]
Columbia College
Alumni on Facebook
Check out the new
Columbia College
Alumni page!
facebook.com/
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Like the page to get
alumni news, learn
about alumni events and
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view photos and more.
SUMMER 2013
106
SUMMER 2013
107