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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY CLASS NOTES
an island between the forks at the
eastern end of Long Island, near
where Kinara grew up. Many dear
friends from the Class of 2006 were
in attendance, and some played key
roles in the ceremony, including
best man (and best twin) Philip
Fileri, Nattha Chutinthranond,
Umrao Sethi and Laura Stedman.
Friend and Kinara’s fellow Law
School classmate, Andrew Case
’11L, officiated.
Other CC alums enlivening the
celebration included Patrick Ciccone
’03, Max DiLallo, Jeffrey Stedman
’05, Laurel Combs, Ed Combs
and Julia Werb. The newlyweds are
doing well: Kinara clerks for U.S.
District Judge Janet Bond Arterton
in New Haven, Conn., where they
live with leurs chats, Anouk and
Guillaume. Kinara was admitted to
the New York bar in January and
will begin a clerkship on the United
States Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit in September. Paul is
completing a dissertation in cinema
studies at NYU.
Marc Pimentel ’10 P&S married
Camilla Benedicto ’08 PH in Boston
on August 25. April Lee ’10 SIPA
was maid of honor. Groomsmen
included Tahmid Chowdhury,
George Eng ’13E, 14 P&S; James
Ji ’10 P&S; Ani Ravi; and Eugene
Tsai ’10 P&S. Bridesmaids included
Cindy Cheung ’09 GS.
Also in attendance were Michael
Bouton ’10 P&S, Mai-King Chan ’10
P&S, Eunji Choi ’06E, Maggie Chou
’10 P&S, Evan Davidson ’06E, Brandon
Hays ’10 P&S, Helen He, John
Kaczmar ’10 P&S, Sasha Katsnelson
’06E, Emily Niu ’10 P&S, Kristen
Pastor ’10 P&S, Melissa Sum ’10
P&S, Damani Taylor ’10 P&S, Nicole
Taylor ’12 P&S, Peggy Tseng ’13
P&S, William Tseng ’08 PH, Zachary
Wright ’10 P&S, Schonmei Wu ’10
P&S and Vijay Yerubandi ’10 P&S.
Robert McNamee writes, “I am
happy to report that on September
15 I married the beautiful Erin
Aycock in a nondenominational
ceremony at the Hempstead House
at Sands Point Preserve in Sands
Point, N.Y. In attendance were
many old Columbia friends, including
my best man, Will Thomas,
and his wife, Megan Thomas ’01
Barnard; CJ Zopf ’06E and his wife,
Stephanie Zopf ’06E (née Flores),
Jalal Ahmed ’06E, Emily Doherty,
Yasmine El Gabbani, Brit Cowan
’07 Barnard, Yasmine Cathell ’07
Barnard, Anna Tkacheva ’07, Brian
French ’08 and Peter Petraro.”
Jason Colombo, v.p. for asset
management at Goldman Sachs,
married Jessica Levin at the Ritz-
Carlton in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jessica is an associate at Morrison
Cohen, a Manhattan law firm.
Sam Arora writes, “I married
my sweetheart, Jaime Bugaski, in
Washington, D.C. On hand for the
celebration were Jonathan Manes,
Dana Peritz (née Hopp), Karen
Sagall ’03E and groomsman and
Columbia roommate Vincent
Schoefer ’03E.”
Congratulations to all!
07
David D. Chait
1255 New Hampshire Ave.
N.W., Apt. 815
Washington, DC 20036
ddc2106@columbia.edu
The Class of 2007 has been up to
some amazing things!
Sarah Smick directed, co-wrote,
produced and is starring in her first
feature film, “a bro-mantic dark
comedy called Friended to Death,
about a guy who fakes his death
on social media to see which of his
so-called ‘friends’ care enough to
show up at his fake funeral. I’m
thrilled to be nearing completion
on it and look forward to premiering
it in early 2013.” The film has
been profiled in Indiewire and The
Examiner.
Kasia Nikhamina shares, “My
husband, Ilya Nikhamin, has
launched his own bicycle shop,
Redbeard Bikes, in DUMBO in
Brooklyn. (And as we know, behind
every great man is a great woman
… I’ve been helping him out behind
the scenes.) The big draw is that he
offers professional bike fittings —
highly recommended for anyone
who’s experiencing pain or discomfort
while riding. Swing by the shop
when you’re in town! The address
is 165 Front St., and our website is
redbeardbikes.com.”
Christine Kwak has finished
her third semester as a visiting
lecturer in the music department
at Cornell, although, she notes, “I
left Ithaca and moved back to NYC
a while ago. My husband, Eddie
Kim ’08, ’14L, transferred over the
summer to Columbia Law School.
[As I write,] my chamber group,
Solisti Ensemble (solistiensemble.
org), is awaiting its Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium debut on January
18, 2013. Should be an exciting
night. Winter plans include spending
lots of quality time with my sister,
Michelle Kwak ’12, who works
at Ralph Lauren in Seoul, Korea,
and visiting for the holidays.”
Love is in the air for CC ’07.
Rachel Rosenberg ’06, a secondyear
resident in family medicine at
Beth Israel Medical Center, married
Khalil Savary, a second-year pediatrics
resident at Jacobi Medical
Center in the Bronx. The two were
featured in The New York Times
wedding section in October.
Thomas Weldon ’08 and Marissa
Doyle were married on September
1. The wedding ceremony
took place at the Second Presbyterian
Church in Pittston, Pa.
Michael Accordino and Lauren
Accordino ’09 (née Shearer) also
were married this summer.
April Nizlek (now April Jelinek)
married Michal Jelinek on August 18
in St. Paul’s Chapel. Max Foxman,
Larissa Silva and diving coach Gordon
Spencer were in attendance.
April and Michal met in Haiti
following the 2010 earthquake and
now live in Michal’s hometown of
Bratislava, Slovakia.
Joanna Loewenstein is engaged
to Leon Skornicki ’06 Princeton of
Caracas, Venezuela.
Lenora Babb writes, “Kori Gatta
and John Estrada ’07E are engaged
and will be married in the fall. John
proposed to Kori where they met,
on Amsterdam Avenue near their
old dorm, Wien.” Also, “I recently
visited Suzanne Hopcroft and
Jonny Rose ’04 at their beautiful
apartment in Long Beach, Calif.,
where they recently moved. By
all accounts they are enjoying the
sunshine and the beach.”
In October, Christina Myers ’08
produced and performed in an ambitious
theatre project, Those Whom
the Gods Love, in the Downtown
Los Angeles Arts District through
her budding theatre company, Kids
Terribles. She also has launched a
“found space” theatre experience,
where the audience arrives at a
restaurant with a prix fixe dinner;
a conspicuous character then acts
as guide, escorting guests to an undisclosed
loft location for the show.
The experience aims to keep the
audience on its toes and sets a tone
of excitement and surprise from
the beginning. The story unfolds as
a satire about Hollywood itself told
through the eyes of a smart young
woman trying to find her place
in the real world. Check it out at
kidsterribles.com.
I’m excited to announce that I
(David Chait) am engaged to Amanda
Mullens ’13 Arch. I proposed to
Amanda in September on a trip to
Washington, D.C., where we met.
REUNION WEEKEND
MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Sarah Trimmer
sst2132@columbia.edu
212-851-7977
DEVELOPMENT Julia Pollan
jep2177@columbia.edu
212-851-7941
08
Neda Navab
7 Soldiers Field Park,
Apt. 7C
Boston, MA 02163
nn2126@columbia.edu
It’s been nearly five years since
we graduated and (for most of us)
entered the real world. Incredible!
An amazing team of our classmates
are hard at work on the Reunion
Committee planning the Alumni
Reunion Weekend festivities, so
please save the date: Thursday, May
30–Sunday, June 2. Events will take
place on campus and throughout
NYC. Go to reunion.college.colum
bia.edu to get more information and
to make a pledge to attend. Also,
please take a minute to update your
contact information on the site so
Columbia can send you the latest
news related to reunion. You also
can contact either of the staff members
noted at the top of the column.
Also, join our CC/EN Facebook
group, “Columbia University Class
of 2008.” Now, onto a few updates
from classmates.
Joshua Robinson has some pretty
big news to share. “First, I proposed
to Daniella Zalcman ’09 on the
steps of the Met. It had been a long
time coming, but I still managed to
surprise her with an elaborate ruse.
For the record, she said yes. Making
things even more interesting for us,
we moved to London (my hometown)
in November, where I started
as The Wall Street Journal’s European
sports correspondent and sports
editor of WSJ Europe. After three
months of covering nothing but the
New York Giants, I’ll be glad to trade
in one football for another.”
Tarin O’Donnell moved to Miami
last summer and recently started
working with Google, doing marketing
for Google+. “I’m enjoying living
in the tropics with a Penn graduate
and soaking in the ‘Meeyami’ flavor.
My apartment is always open to visiting
Lions, unless Anna C. Lindow
is occupying the guest room, which
she does frequently.”
Karl Moats ’11 Business now
travels the world as a v.p. of marketing
with Adobe. His work was featured
in a New York Times/Wall Street
Journal international ad campaign.
Karl met Newt Gingrich and his
wife, Callista, in a gym in Singapore
(Newt was only touring), saw the
prime minister of Japan in Tokyo
and swam with beluga whales at
SeaWorld Orlando.
Ladies, Karl also enjoys candlelit
dinners, long walks on the beach
and Justin Bieber songs. His number
is 801-228-8387.
09
Alidad Damooei
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
damooei@gmail.com
This fall, Lindsey Frost Cleary
married Jonathon Cleary in Chattanooga,
Tenn. Eva Fortes, Holly
Chung, Cyrus Ebnesajjad and Soo
Han joined Lindsey in the celebration
(see nearby photo). Lindsey
lives in Tennessee, where she is a
research associate in STEM Educa-
Vedia Biton ’08 and Vladimir Eidelman ’08E were married on August 12 in a seaside Jewish ceremony and reception in Istanbul, Turkey.
Among the Columbians in attendance were, left to right: Blake Rego ’08E, Michelle Mayer ’08, Oleg Otlivanchik ’08E, the bride, the groom,
Kseniya Shelkovskaya ’08 Barnard, Yoni BenTov ’08E and Journee Isip ’08.
PHOTO: TIM RYAN SMITH
tion at the University of Tennessee
at Chattanooga.
Daniella Zalcman and Joshua
Robinson ’08 also will be walking
down the aisle soon. The engaged
couple recently moved to London,
where Joshua is a sports editor for
the European edition of The Wall
Street Journal.
Hurricane Sandy dealt a devastating
blow to many New Yorkers.
Marissa “Isang” Smith did her
part in the weeks following the
tragedy to help. Isang had planned
to run in the ING New York City
Marathon. After it was canceled,
she decided to be a campaign manager
for Run Anyways, which was
formed in the aftermath of the hurricane.
The group raised $16,000
by facilitating a marathon-distance
run in Central Park and also collected
enough supplies to fill five
trucks. Now, Isang is helping turn
Run Anyways into an official charity
that will continue as a force in
the athletic community.
Isang’s commitment to running
is a full-time profession. She is a
coach for City Coach and JackRabbit
Sports in New York City.
Don’t forget to send me an
update in 2013! Use my email address
at the top of the column or
submit through CCT’s easy-to-use
webform: college.columbia.edu/
cct/submit_class_note.
10
Julia Feldberg
4 E. 8th St., Apt. 4F
New York, NY 10003
juliafeldberg@gmail.com
Hello, Class of 2010! Thank you for
sharing your wonderful updates.
If you are reading this column but
have not received an email from
me asking for your submissions,
please make sure your email address
is updated with the College.
You can do so at the following
link: college.columbia.edu/cct/
update_contact_info.
Congratulations are in order for
a few of our recently engaged or
married classmates.
As of this writing, Jacob Tadros
’10E and LeAnn Chavez were to
be married on February 10. They
met their freshman year in Carman.
The bridal party included Rebecca
(Fuller) Kingman ’11, Sara Yee ’10E,
Toukam Ngoufanke ’09E and Kyle
Jurado ’09.
Abby Oberman writes, “My
now-fiancé, Bryan Finkel, proposed
last August during the final stop of
our cruise through Europe (on the
top of Mount Solaro, Capri, to be
exact!). I have been overwhelmed
by the well wishes of so many
Columbians, and I hope many
of them will be there to celebrate
when Bryan and I get married this
September.”
Lauren “Casey” Hayes graduated
from a conservatory program
at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting
last June and now is the development
director of True False Theatre
and an associate company member
of Theatre East. She also is recently
engaged to Caleb Deats ’11L and is
planning her wedding, which will
be held on a farm in her home state
of West Virginia in August. She
is glad her Columbia friends will
finally have a reason to visit after
years of listening to her wax poetic
about the Mountain State.
Michael Cloney is a student at
P&S. As an undergrad, he met his
now-wife, Tania Harsono ’11, in
Ferris Booth. The couple was married
on July 28, 2011.
Emelie Kogut writes, “I have
gone back to school after working
at various legal jobs in New York
and Switzerland. I’m in my first
year at Boston University School of
Law and I’m very happy to have
Chloe Brighton ’08 and Suhaydee
Tejeda ’12 in my first-year class
section.”
Rachel Vishnepolsky has
been awarded the NSF Graduate
Research Fellowship, to be used
toward her mathematical research
on smooth dynamical systems.
Alexandra Stein writes, “I’ve
moved to Morocco, where I am
the program manager for the High
Atlas Foundation, an NGO that
develops and implements development
projects throughout rural
Morocco. Living in Marrakech is
an adventure, between learning the
languages, hitching rides on the
backs of motos and exploring the
mountains just outside of the city.
It seems, though, that I’m never far
from home, as my neighbors happen
to be Columbia folk, too!”
And finally, our quarterly
installment from Chris Yim, who
has some incredibly exciting news
to report:
“If you’re reading this, it means
that you’ve survived the 12-21-12
apocalypse, and I just want to say
‘Congratulations, you’re a trooper.’
In the post-apocalyptic world, my
hope is that you will turn to me as
your fearless leader. My campaign
starts here.
“On a lighter note, I am still
alive and kicking. The 2012 holiday
season left me with a few extra
pounds that I am hoping to shed
now that it’s 2013. But hey, what
are New Year’s resolutions for if
not to fantasize about washboard
abs that are hiding under there
somewhere This past year, I have
been incredibly grateful for learning
the values of discipline, hard
work and grit. Thanks to those
who heard me complain and for
everything that has humbled me in
SPRING 2013
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SPRING 2013
93