Celebrate Your Reunion, May 13–16, 2022!
Penn Alumni is planning a combined reunion for those who missed theirs in 2020 and 2021, along with those celebrating reunions in 2022 (classes ending in 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7). Visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/alumniweekend for more information.
“Now that I’m retired, I find that I’m not missing corporate life at all and am relishing having more time to enjoy golfing, Zumba, and experimenting with new recipes.”
—Linda Walker CW’75
1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s| 2020s
We Want to Hear from You
email gazette@ben.dev.upenn.edu
Please include your school and year, along with your address and a daytime telephone number. We include email addresses only when requested or obviously implied.
Deadlines 7/15 for the Sep|Oct issue; 9/15 for Nov|Dec; 11/15 for Jan|Feb; 1/15 for Mar|Apr; 3/15 for May|Jun; and 5/15 for Jul|Aug.
1948
Marian Puro Froehlich FA’48 has been listed as a noteworthy sculptor by Marquis Who’s Who and has received its Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Some career highlights include winning first prize for sculpture from the New England Silvermine Guild, and first prize at a juried show at Western Carolina University. She writes, “My resume includes many New York shows.”
1953
Richard A. Easterlin Gr’53 has written a new book, An Economist’s Lessons on Happiness: Farewell Dismal Science! From the book’s description: “[Easterlin] draws on a half-century of his own research and that conducted by fellow economists and psychologists to answer in plain language questions like: Can happiness be measured? Will more money make me happier? What about finding a partner? Getting married? Having a baby? … Some of the answers are surprising (no, more money won’t do the trick; neither will economic growth; babies are a mixed blessing!), but they are all based on reason and well-vetted evidence from the fields of economics and psychology.”
1955
H. John Henry W’55 shares that his latest writing—including editorials, poetry, and plays—and his musical compositions can be found on his website, portwhitmantimes.com.
1958
Alvino E. Fantini C’58 writes, “Hi to all my fellow alumni from UPenn. Although retired now from the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, (and its division, the Experiment in International Living) I continue working as volunteer director of their institutional archives. During the past year, I also completed research that explored the nature of intercultural communicative competence and its development during intercultural exchange programs, and I assessed the impact of these experiences on the lives of both students and hosts. The results were published in the work, Intercultural Communicative Competence in Educational Exchange: A Multinational Perspective (Routledge, 2019). If you come to Vermont, please come and visit the SIT campus and the archives.”
Paul L. Veeder II Ar’58 GAr’59 writes, “I retired from formal practice a number of years ago. My career covered many interesting and varied projects, including 18 years with I. M. Pei & Partners, where I became interested in historic preservation and managed to take courses in this topic at Columbia University. This background landed me the position of project manager for the rehabilitation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Other noteworthy projects for the firm were the National Airlines Terminal at JFK Airport and the Choate Rosemary Hall Arts Center in Wallingford, Connecticut. After leaving the Pei organization, I worked for a number of large architectural and planning firms in New York but was called back to the firm once again by Mr. Pei’s sons. They had established their own practice, Pei Partnership, and there I became involved in the renovation of a historic landmarked residence in Greenwich Village and a laboratory at MIT in Boston. Nearing the end of my formal career I joined Goldstone & Hinz Architects, worked on the Seacliffs and Aquatheater exhibits at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, and was put in charge of the design and construction of the Snow Leopard exhibit in New York City’s Central Park Zoo. My wife, Hadley, and I have lived in Rowayton, Connecticut, for 48 years and are involved with the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, where I serve on the board of trustees and am a member of the Curatorial and Building committees.
Richard Saul Wurman Ar’58 GAr’59, an architect and graphic designer, exhibited a selection of more than 40 watercolors and 20 bronze sculptures at the Coral Gables Museum in Florida, August 6 through November 8. From the museum’s website: “Throughout his life, Richard Saul Wurman has challenged traditional forms of presenting and understanding facts. He has lectured extensively, and published nearly a hundred books on different subjects, with a focus on ‘information architecture’ (a term that he coined). He created an array of conferences where great minds from the most varied backgrounds converged, including the popular TED, from 1984 to 2002, and spinoff TEDMED Conferences from 1995 to 2010. … [His] latest milestone is the Wurman Center for Understanding Understanding at RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State, which is currently in development.” His book UnderstandingUnderstanding was reviewed in our Mar|Apr 2018 issue.
1962
James E. Jones GFA’62, a painter, printmaker, and retired professor of fine arts at Morgan State University, continues to be productive into his 80s. He writes, “I wanted you to know that even during the pandemic, after more than 60 years, I continue to make art. During the past several years, my partner Elva E. Tillman and I have produced several books, the latest being Marches—Essays on My Participation in Major Marches for Civil Rights and Social Change From 1962–2015 (Senoje´ Consortium, 2019). We have moved to the Charlestown retirement village in Catonsville, Maryland. Here I have created a series of watercolors, which are being framed to show in the spring of 2022.” James has frequently exhibited and has been included in collections throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and Guam.
1964
Michael H. Levin C’64 and his partner Nora Jean Bieler Levin CW’65 have coauthored a new book, A Border Town in Poland: A 20th Century Memoir by Hirsch Bieler as told to Nora Jean and Michael H. Levin. From the book’s description: “Hirsch Bieler’s memoir, dictated four decades ago, recounts a nimble émigré’s 30-year odyssey navigating life in the Polish–Prussian border town Grajewo, the Great War’s Eastern Front, Weimar Germany, the Third Reich, and British Palestine to eventual sanctuary in the U.S. His vivid experiences as teenage smuggler, fur trader, and petroleum entrepreneur, told in his own voice, are enriched by historical context, contemporaneous color images, and voices of friends and family writing from locations around the globe. They resonantly capture the people, places and tumultuous times when luck, timing and proper documents meant life or death. ‘Afterwords’ carries the story past the Holocaust and World War II, emphasizing how Hirsch’s formative experiences also shaped his century—and reflect themes common to emigrants today.”
Helen Niemtzow Pratt GAr’64 has written a memoir, Dinner with Eleanor, described by publisher Post Hill Press as “a moving, generation-spanning saga which tracks Helen’s immigrant family history, as well as her own impressive life.” Helen met Roger Pratt GAr’64—son of famed political activist Trude Lash—at Penn’s Graduate School for Architecture and later married him. Through this connection, she shared an intimate meal with Trude’s close friend Eleanor Roosevelt.
1965
Nora Jean Bieler Levin CW’65 see Michael H. Levin C’64.
1967
Dr. Stuart Tobin C’67 has authored a second book, The Bookworm and the Serpent. He writes, “It chronicles the true, incendiary, and polarizing eight-year anguished struggle to establish a public library in my home of Madison County, Kentucky, in the 1980s. The angry, passionate opposition characterized the bookworm symbol as a snake and serpent to be crushed and destroyed for tempting the people of the community with a library providing access of information from the forbidden tree of knowledge.”
1969
Lanny Moldauer C’69 writes, “I enlisted 100 fellow coaches from the Center for Creative Leadership, a national leader in executive coaching, to provide pro bono coaching for registered nurses on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis across America. I expected in March of 2020 that coaches would have more time on their hands, while nurses would become the most significant professionals helping manage the COVID crisis while confronting unparalleled workloads, stress, and personal threat. The pro bono provision of such services was largely directed at nurses in mid- to upper-level leadership positions that both best employed the executive coaching skills otherwise honed at companies such as Verizon, Fiat Chrysler, Raytheon, etc., and also extended the program’s effect to the largest number of nurses possible. The program I run is the single largest and most successful effort of its kind nationwide. Bill Lipton W’69, retired vice chairman of Ernst and Young, was of enormous help in providing some initial connections with nursing organizations. Kate Judge, former assistant dean of Penn’s number one–ranked School of Nursing, now executive director of the American Nurses Association’s Foundation, the ANA’s philanthropic arm, was similarly of great help.”
1970
Charles “Ted” Gilmore W’70 writes, “I’ve put together a new book, Franklin Field Saturdays: Celebrating 65 Years of Penn Football in the Ivy League (1956–2021). The book is a compilation of snapshots, narrative and pictorial—i.e., a scrapbook—of 65 memorable Ivy League football games played at Franklin Field since the conference began round-robin play in 1956. It is meant to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Penn football in the Ivy League. It also pays homage to the glory and majesty of the grand old stadium at 33rd and Spruce Streets in Philadelphia. The book is published by Shorehouse Books and has been described as ‘a real treat for followers of Penn Football.’ It can be purchased on Amazon.”
1971
Dayton Duncan C’71 has written the script of Ken Burns’s upcoming film biography of Benjamin Franklin, to be broadcast nationally on PBS in April 2022. Dayton writes, “Franklin was even more fascinating to me, 50 years after my graduation, than he was when I was at Penn and only occasionally paused to contemplate his statue in the center of campus. He was a world-class scientist and inventor, a civic leader always looking for ways to improve the lives of everyday people, an incredibly witty and profound writer, a reluctant revolutionary who nonetheless became an indispensable founder of a new nation, our first (and possibly greatest) diplomat, and so much more. At the same time, he seems to have a lot to say that reverberates even today—whether it’s about inoculations, the value of an efficient postal system, the foibles of human nature, or the inherent fragility of our country’s experiment in democracy.”
Ethelea Reisner Katzenell CW ‘71 writes, “I took a B.A. in Middle East studies as preparation for my move to Israel. I’ve been living in the biblical oasis, capital of the Negev Desert, Be’er-Sheva, since 1972. I worked 45 years as a librarian at the Ben-Gurion University and retired in 2017 to do Hebrew/English translated and academic editing in English from home. I created a huge English website all about Be’er-Sheva, entitled ‘My Be’er-Sheva’ (beer-shevabiblicaloasismetropolis.com)—all are welcome! My four adult children, four grandsons, and one granddaughter were all born here, where Abraham the Patriarch chose, like me, to reside and welcome his guests, as I’d welcome you (once COVID-19 is behind us all). I enjoy swimming daily, dancing, singing, and performing with Cantacapella classical choir (www.facebook.com/CantacappellaChoir), and I’m a member of the English poets’ society ‘Voices Israel.’” Ethelea shares this poem, titled “My oasis in Be’er-Sheva”: “To awaken to the lovely sound / Of birds in early song, / To the touch of sunlight, / Warm on my cheek. / To rise in tranquility / And gladly face the day. / The cool morning breeze / Blowing the past behind me. / My home, private garden, / Sanctuary, safe-haven, Eden.”
1972
Richard Bank L’72 has written a new book, The Tree of Sorrow: Growing Up in the Shadow of the Holocaust. This is the third book in his Holocaust trilogy, which also includes Feig and I am Terezin. He writes, “This memoir concludes with my first week at Penn Law as the ’60s came to an end. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia and intend to officially retire from the practice of law next summer, marking 50 years, but I am still writing and at work on my next book.” Richard is the author of nine books, has written one play, and has published over 100 articles, essays, short stories, and book reviews. He is a past president of the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference and has taught writing courses at Penn, Temple University, and other venues.
1973
Mark D. Dibner C’73 writes, “My years at Penn led to a wonderful career. Following my Penn BA and other degrees including a PhD in neuropharmacology and an MBA in technology management, I had the opportunity to help start the biotechnology industry in the United States and worldwide. That led to adjunct professorships in technology management at Wharton and at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, plus authoring 13 books on biotechnology and starting two companies on strategic planning in the biotech and life sciences industries. But life evolves. … In 2003, my 13-year-old son Ned and I built a computer out of used parts … and it actually worked. He said, ‘Dad, that was fun, but there are a lot of kids in my middle school who cannot afford a home computer. Let’s build some more and give the PCs to them.’ We filled our basement with computer parts and built 42 computers so that every honor roll student in his school would have a home computer. That was 18 years ago. We started Kramden Institute in our basement as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and it grew tremendously. I have volunteered to grow the company as board chairman, and we have 12 employees now and have had more than 4,000 volunteers; our ‘geeks’ work with us. Within the last two months, we have surpassed 42,500 computers awarded since 2003 and have just bought a 15,000-square-foot headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. See www.kramden.org for details. But in my opinion, my career started in my years at Penn. P.S. Kramden is ‘Ned/Mark’ spelled backwards.”
Christine Bebel Garst CW’73 of Olympia, Washington, writes, “Among the many things for which I am grateful to Penn, one that has shaped my ‘extracurricular’ life for all these years has been active involvement in electoral politics. I met my husband Sam Garst C’73 campaigning for anti-war candidates after the student strike in the spring of 1970, and we never stopped. I have served in just about every role in my local Democratic party, stuffed innumerable envelopes, made phone calls until hoarse, and knocked on many doors. Sam ran for legislative office three times (and lost each time); I helped recruit and organize volunteers. After Sam passed away in 2013, I continued on, despite huge disappointments and even personal attacks. Nowadays, I split my time between Washington (a blue state) and Arizona (reddish-purple). I am looking forward to sharing war stories at our 50th Reunion, May 13-14, 2023. More than a dozen of us already met via Zoom in June to get started, and there’s lots more opportunity for input. Be in touch at reunion@ben.dev.upenn.edu. Serve on a committee, send us ideas, plan to attend—it will be fun!”
1974
Richard Donze C’74 writes, “I continue to work as a physician executive at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pennsylvania, part of the Penn Health System since 2013. For the last 30-plus years, I have also been writing medical poetry that has appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Journal of Medical Humanities and three anthologies of physician poetry (English major thing, old habits die hard). I am now happy to announce that I have recently collected a number of my medical and nonmedical poems into a book, titled The Natural Order of Things, which is scheduled for publication this November from Finishing Line Press. And even though I trembled to submit this ‘paper’ to someone in the English department for the first time since senior year, happily Kelly Writers House faculty director and English professor Al Filreis reviewed the manuscript and wrote a cover blurb. Aspiring to the need for thematic unity I learned about in Bennett Hall, I curated/selected the pieces (both medical and nonmedical, some of the latter previously published) to relate with varying degrees of fit to an overarching motif about birth and death and cycles, mostly in the nature we know with intimations about order in a larger universe. Babies being born and older people dying conform to this natural order, the former of course usually welcomed and joyful and the latter often unwelcomed and sorrowful, even if expected. But there are some deaths we would characterize as premature and, perhaps, unnatural or outside the flow of that order, although a personified Nature might think otherwise—if they occurred, they were natural. One of the opening poems (‘local strawberries’) is a carpe diem-ish intentional homage/imitation of another perennially celebrated Penn alum, W. C. Williams M1906 Hon’52, and the closer (‘my umbilicus’) a literal navel contemplation riff on something a macrobiotic teacher once said about how the body has to die so the spirit can be born. A physician-poet friend told me that after decades of publishing individual poems, it was about time I collected my work; I asked him, ‘What was the rush?’ I hope you get a chance to check it out.”
1975
Linda Walker CW’75 writes, “Upon my retirement from Citi, it was great that Citi paid tribute to my being the ‘Name That’s Synonymous with Citi Cards,’ stating in an internal article, ‘When it comes to making a name for herself, Linda Walker has set the bar pretty high. Her name is ubiquitous in its appearance on Citi branded cards featured on TV, in digital marketing, in print, and as part of marketing mailers for the last three decades.’ You can see examples of my name on sample credit cards on Citi’s website, citi.com/credit-cards. Now that I’m retired, I find that I’m not missing corporate life at all and am relishing having more time to enjoy golfing, Zumba, and experimenting with new recipes. I’m so looking forward to being able to see more of grandson McIntyre (Mac) in Oregon and granddaughter Phoenix in Atlanta. I’m also excited about relocating from New Jersey to Florida (with husband Steve and rescue cats Ricky and Lucy) in late 2021.”
Elliott Weiss C’75 W’75 WG’76 G’78 Gr’80 has retired as the Oliver Wight Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of the University of Virginia. He writes, “After 40-plus years of teaching and writing, I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and grandchildren and traveling in the post-COVID world.”
1976
Michael P. Malloy L’76 writes, “In early May, Wolters Kluwer published the third of five 2021 supplements for my three-volume treatise Banking Law and Regulation. In 422 pages, the supplement provides new and updated legislative, regulatory, and case law developments in financial services regulation. Among other things, it includes discussion of further mitigation of rules in response to the pandemic crisis and the consolidation of national bank and federal savings association regulations by the Comptroller of the Currency, who regulates both types of institutions.”
Robert E. Stillman G’76 Gr’79, an English professor at the University of Tennessee, has written a new book, Christian Identity, Piety, and Politics in Early Modern England. From the book’s description: “Robert E. Stillman explores the identity of ‘Christians without names,’ as well as their agency as cultural actors in order to recover their consequence for early modern religious, political, and poetic history.”
Donna L. Torrisi GNu’76 writes, “In 1992 I started a community health center serving low-income communities in Philadelphia, which grew to five sites, serving 25,000 people and providing a full gamut of primary care, behavioral health services, dental care, and a myriad of other wellness programs for our patients. Though I retired as executive director in 2019, the Family Practice & Counseling Network is still thriving. During my stay as executive director for 29 years, as a nurse practitioner, I always maintained a small clinical practice. I noticed that many of my female patients had tattoos that told a story of trauma and for them supported healing and redemption. About six years ago, I pledged to do a story about these brave and inspiring women. In October, She Writes Press/Spark Publishing published my book, Tattoo Monologues: Indelible Marks on the Body and Soul. It is a large, hardcovered book consisting of stories and black-and-white photographs of 29 women whom I interviewed, including several trauma experts, and it includes a clinical piece written by a professor of social work for each story. The extensive forward is written by an internationally known psychiatrist for her work in the area of trauma, Dr. Sandra Bloom.”
1977
Joyce White G’77 Gr’86 has been named a Friend of Thai Science 2020 by Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation. Joyce is an adjunct professor of anthropology at Penn, founder and executive director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology, and a consulting scholar at the Penn Museum. She writes, “The award recognizes my decades of research into the archaeology of Thailand, especially on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ban Chiang. With collaborators, I’ve been publishing a monograph suite on the ancient metallurgy of Ban Chiang and other Thai prehistoric sites, via Penn Press, with three volumes out and a fourth expected in the fall. Recently I coauthored ‘The Metal Age of Thailand and Ricardo’s Law of Comparative Advantage’ in the journal Archaeological Research in Asia. I also have been conducting archaeological research in Laos since 2001, the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project, and am so far the first and only American archaeologist to establish a field research program in that country. I’m also the happy owner of a 125-year-old house in University City, on a lovely tree-lined block with a close community of neighbors.”
1978
Vincent T. Lombardo C’78 was the recipient of a Cleveland Italian American Heritage Month Award in the category of “Public Servant, State of Ohio.” Vincent, a retired attorney, received the award at an event in October, which the city recognizes as Italian American Heritage Month. The award was presented by the Cleveland Italian American Heritage Committee in partnership with the Cleveland Mayor’s Office and Cleveland City Council.
1979
Anthony B. Haller GL’79, a partner at Blank Rome LLP, has been appointed to serve as a public trustee of the American Inns of Court Foundation. American Inns of Court are groups of law professionals who gather to improve the skills, professionalism, and ethics of the bench and bar. At Blank Rome, Anthony concentrates his practice on all aspects of labor and employment law.
Joyce E. Zonana G’79 Gr’85, a professor emerita at the City University of New York, is currently teaching an online course, titled An Introduction to Arab Jewish Literature, through 92U, the online learning program from the 92nd Street Y. The course runs from November 4 through December 2. More information can be found at bit.ly/3tJ7J96.
1980
Dr. Colin F. Burrows V’80, a professor emeritus and former chair of the department of small animal clinical sciences at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London. The award is in recognition of his contributions to global veterinary medicine. Colin is a past president of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, founder and former CEO of the North American Veterinary Community, and an honorary life member of several international veterinary associations.
1981
Susan Smith Grant GNu’81 of Pensacola, Florida, writes, “I am a retired nurse of many hats. I have worked in medical/surgical, neonatal ICU, rehabilitation, perinatal (where I have my master’s degree), hospital administration, newborn nursery, nursing home, and school nursing. I served in the US Air Force Reserve for 27 years (as a flight nurse for 20 and in nursing administration for seven), retiring as a colonel in 2006. I have a daughter who is a social worker in medical research. I retired in 2010, became a full-time RVer, traveling north to south, east to west in this beautiful country and enjoying every minute of it.”
Michael Kelley C’81’s book The Lost Theory was published on September 21. His former English professor at Penn, Vicki Mahaffey, who now teaches English and gender and women’s studies at the University of Illinois, wrote the following review: “This wildly imaginative novel set amid the mountains of Nepal culminates in a burst of sublime illumination that reveals how poetic, scientific, and spiritual truths converge. The reader is both elevated and grounded as the characters learn the joy of living in a perpetual present. The story is told with delightful candor, humor, and deep feeling. An inspirational experience.” More information about Michael’s book can be found at michaelkelleyauthor.com.
John McGonagle G’81 writes, “I’ve now retired from the competitive intelligence profession and as managing partner of the Helicon Group, and I’d like to announce that my first one-act play, Mirrors, is one of four category finalists in the Shawnee [Pennsylvania] Original Playwrights Short Play Festival. The festival received over 200 submissions for its three separate categories. Mirrors is a reflection (sorry) on the observation that the intelligence profession is a wilderness of mirrors. I showed the first draft to my wife of 50 years, Carolyn Vella, who told me it was terrible. So, I rewrote it. Funny, the same thing happened with my first book where she (correctly) marked the draft first chapters of that as ‘BS.’ Again, she was right.”
1983
Barratt H. Jaruzelski W’83 has been elected vice chairman of the Morris Museum’s board of trustees. Barratt writes, “The Morris Museum is New Jersey’s second-largest museum and the only Smithsonian Affiliate Museum in the state. The museum’s mission is the exploration of art, sound, and motion through multiple artistic media along with the performing arts.”
Randy Malamud C’83, Regents’ Professor of English at Georgia State University, has published his 11th book, Strange Bright Blooms: A History of Cut Flowers (Reaktion and University of Chicago Press, 2021), which he describes as “a picaresque ramble through the world of flowers, encompassing paintings, murals, fashion, public art, glass flowers, pressed flowers, flowery church hats, weaponized flowers, deconstructed flowers, racist and homophobic flowers, flower power, and much more.”
1986
Peter Kulik EE’86 has been honored with the naming of a new award from the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), the Peter Kulik Innovation Award. CEO of ATMIA Mike Lee says, “Next Gen ATMs are really the brainchild of Peter Kulik and the growing integration of ATMs into the mobile-digital world is now becoming an unstoppable movement. The new award pays tribute not just to Peter as a thought leader, but to all future winners of the award who will continue to push forward the boundaries of innovation.” Peter chaired ATMIA’s Next Gen ATM Architecture committee, which developed the original industry RFI (Request for Information) and vision for a Next Gen ATM and oversaw the creation of its first blueprint.
1987
Clint Arthur W’87 published his 20th book, Wisdom of the Men (www.is.gd/wisdomofthemen). Clint writes, “It includes real-life stories of success lessons from Penn’s late sociology professor E. Digby Baltzell W’39 Hon’89, executive education professor Charles Dwyer, the late Wharton Entrepreneurship lecturer Myles Bass, my fraternity brothers in the Castle, and 45 ‘unicorns of popular culture,’ including Dr. Mehmet Oz M’86 WG’86 (aka “Dr. Oz”), Mike Tyson, Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Halston, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump W’68, Jimmy Carter, and Joe Biden Hon’13. My wife Ali and I now enjoy spending our time between homes in Los Angeles, New York, and our villas in Acapulco’s famous Las Brisas.”
Michael Raposa Gr’87, professor of religion and American studies at Lehigh University, has written a new book, Theosemiotic: Religion, Reading, and the Gift of Meaning. From the book’s description: “Michael Raposa uses Charles Peirce’s semiotic theory to rethink certain issues in contemporary philosophical theology and the philosophy of religion. … Drawing on Peirce’s ideas, Raposa develops a semiotic conception of persons/selves emphasizing the role that acts of attention play in shaping human inferences and perception. His central Peircean presuppositions are that all human experience takes the form of semiosis and that the universe is ‘perfused’ with signs. Religious meaning emerges out of a process of continually reading and re-reading certain signs.”
1988
Maura McCaffery C’88 has been promoted to vice president and general counsel of EBI Consulting, a company that provides environmental risk and compliance management services. In this role, she oversees all aspects of EBI’s legal functions and serves as a member of EBI’s leadership team. She is based out of the firm’s Burlington, Massachusetts, headquarters.
1990
Galit Chinitz-Rich C’90 see David S. Rich C’91.
1991
David S. Rich C’91 writes, “I recently wrote and published my first book, Executives and Professionals in New York: Your Rights at Work (Jacobs & Whitehall 2020). I authored this book to fill a gaping need for a written guide that’s aimed at explaining to white-collar professionals their constantly evolving rights and responsibilities in the workplace. The book can be ordered online at Amazon.” David, an employment and business litigation attorney, is the founder of the Law Offices of David S. Rich LLC in New York and in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. David, his wife Galit Chinitz-Rich C’90, and their four children (ages 17, 15, 13, and 13) live in northern New Jersey.
1992
Jonathan Blum C’92 has been appointed principal deputy administrator and chief operating officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by President Joe Biden Hon ’13. CMS is an operating division within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Jonathan writes, “My wife Wendy and I live in the Washington, DC, area. I look forward to connecting with other Penn alumni serving in the Biden–Harris Administration.”
Jerrilyn McGregory Gr’92, an English professor at Florida State University, has written a new book, One Grand Noise: Boxing Day in the Anglicized Caribbean World. From the book’s description: “Based on ethnographic study undertaken by McGregory, One Grand Noise explores Boxing Day as part of a creolization process from slavery into the twenty-first century. … [She] negotiates the ways in which Boxing Day has expanded from small communal traditions into a common history of colonialism that keeps alive a collective spirit of resistance.”
1993
Jeffrey Harlan C’93 writes, “In November, I was elected to the Costa Mesa City Council. I also earned the distinction of being the first councilmember to represent the city’s Eastside (District 6). This was a tremendous team effort during unusual circumstances—campaigning during a pandemic certainly had its challenges—and I am especially grateful for the encouragement and support of my family and friends, AEPi brethren, and Penn classmates.”
Derek M. Stikeleather C’93 has been named chair of the Appellate Practice Group at the law firm Goodell DeVries.
David Wyshner WG’93 has been appointed chief financial officer at Kyndryl, an independent managed infrastructure services business spinoff of IBM. Prior to this appointment, he was CFO of XPO Logistics and CFO of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.
1994
Dr. Adam Scioli C’94 has been appointed medical director and head of psychiatry at Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. Adam writes, “It’s an exciting time at Caron as we continue to evolve the medical treatment of substance use disorder as a brain disease integrated with our amazing team of specialists in behavioral, spiritual, and psychological health. I encourage anyone interested in addiction and behavioral health to check out the website at www.caron.org.”
1995
David Mays EAS’95 has created a video to summarize the literature linking diverse teams with better outcomes, with support from the US National Science Foundation. He writes, “The bottom line is that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a win-win.” There is a full 18-minute version of the video (youtu.be/McbJDqIhxSE) and a shorter three-minute trailer (youtu.be/T3ME84vQCVg), both of which are on the YouTube channel bit.ly/learningmodules. David is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver and welcomes feedback via david.mays@ucdenver.edu.
Cathie Henry Rosado W’95 is a corporate controller working in central Pennsylvania and has recently published Choosing Plan A: A Mother’s Adventure with Adoption, Acceptance After Miscarriage, and Acknowledging the Miracle of Children, available on Amazon.
1996
Dan Gingiss C’96 has written a new book, The Experience Maker: How to Create Remarkable Experiences That Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share. From the book’s description: “Instead of spending more money on marketing trying to acquire new customers, what if you focused on providing your existing customers a remarkable experience? Do so and they will become your best marketers.” More information is available at dangingiss.com.
1997
Shannon Bisbee Johnson C’97 writes, “I am proud to announce the launch of MeridaSKIN, the clean-clinical skincare line I spent several years developing to solve my own problem with rosacea. I didn’t imagine the road to market would weave through home-schooled kids and disrupted supply chains, but I’m glad I kept at it even when the spark was hard to find. I live in Salem, Massachusetts, with my husband and two kids and still love to work as much as I can as a nurse practitioner in urgent care. I have strong clinical and cosmetic formulating skills, but lots to learn about business and marketing, so I’m grateful to anyone who takes time to check out meridaskin.com and sends along advice! You can find me in the MyPenn directory and I’d love to hear from friends old and new.”
Heather D. Wathington GEd’97 has been appointed CEO of iMentor, a national mentoring organization. She was most recently head of Girard College. In a press release, Heather stated, “I’ve dedicated my career to working on behalf of young people, particularly young people of color and first-generation college students. As an educator and researcher, I seek interventions that work for all types of students and that have tangible outcomes. And that is what I see in iMentor and why I am so excited to join this team.”
1999
Jacqueline Berkell Friedland C’99 L’00 has written a new novel, He Gets That from Me. From the book’s description: “With the number of states legalizing surrogacy on the rise, the delicate process is becoming an option for more and more families trying to conceive. But what happens when 10 years later, you discover your child might not be who you thought they were?” The book follows protagonist Maggie Fisher, who answers an ad offering thousands of dollars to be a surrogate mother and is then called back to the fertility clinic when her DNA test is in question.
2000
Dr. Jillian Lucas Baker C’00 CGS’01 writes, “In September, I celebrated 16 years of marriage to my husband. Our twins, Gavin and Jemma, are 10, and our youngest, Amari, just turned four. I am starting a new professional role as the new research director of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In addition, I am the cohost of A Tribe Called Fertility, a maternal health and fertility podcast for women of color. Our mission is to provide support and possible solutions to decrease birth disparities for Black babies and maternal mortality outcomes for Black women. The journey of our show was featured in the July 17 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer (bit.ly/3lia2fC). Please feel free to check out our website, atribecalledfertility.com.”
Dara Lovitz C’00, an attorney, professor, and cofounder of the Peace Advocacy Network, has written a fourth book, Gag Reflections: Conquering a Fear of Vomit Through Exposure Therapy, cowritten with her therapist, Dr. David Yusko. From the book’s description: “Part-memoir, part clinical history, Dara Lovitz’s brutally honest account of her life as an emetophobe traces her journey from debilitating phobia to life in recovery.” She was profiled in our Mar|April 2011 issue about her work as an animal advocate and her first book, Muzzling A Movement: The Effects of Anti-Terrorism Law, Money, and Politics on Animal Activism.
Ruth Jones Nichols SW’00 has been named chief movement officer at Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization. She has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector and most recently served as president and CEO of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, a member of the Feeding America network. She will be based in the organization’s Washington, DC, office.
Jason R. Vollbracht C’00 EAS’00 has joined the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as a partner in its tax practice, based in Silicon Valley.
2003
Stephanie M. Langin-Hooper C’03 writes, “I am writing to share the belated but joyful news that on July 25, 2018, my husband Dave and I welcomed our second son, Jeremiah ‘Remy’ Charles Stanton. He is now a charming three-year-old who loves dinosaurs, bike rides, and playing with his big brother Myer (age five). My recent professional accomplishments include the publication of my book, Figurines in Hellenistic Babylonia: Miniaturization and Cultural Hybridity (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and my promotion to associate professor with tenure in the art history department at Southern Methodist University, where I was also named as the 2021–2022 Meadows School of the Arts Distinguished Teaching Professor.”
Tamara Weiss Levine C’03 has been promoted to partner at Keith Family Law, a law firm located in Westfield, New Jersey. She represents clients in all aspects of divorce and family law. Tamara resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters and welcomes alumni contact at tamara682@gmail.com.
Brian Michael C’03 writes, “I just released my second book, The Philadelphia Eagles—a photo history book telling the story of football in the city with sources from players, owners, and fans. It includes some never-before-published photos, material from Penn’s University Archives, and a foreword by Ray Didinger. It is available at my store in Philadelphia’s Center City, Shibe Vintage Sports (bit.ly/3mU0Nok).”
2005
Lesley Horton Campbell C’05 has been elected to the New York City Bar Association’s board of directors. In addition, the real estate trade publication GlobeSt named her a 2021 Retail Influencer. The publication’s annual list honors “professionals who are making an impact on the business through their decisions and contributions.” Lesley was also recently named to the National Black Lawyers Top 100 list. She serves as general counsel and senior vice president of talent engagement and office relations at the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Matt Kedziora GGS’05 is the lead terrestrial biologist for the US Navy at Naval Base Guam. He writes, “As a civil servant I am proud to be responsible for the planning and conservation for a variety of flora and fauna in the western Pacific, supporting the mission of the US Navy.”
Beth Pollack Perkel C’05 has published her first book, Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel: Wiring Our Children for Happiness. She writes, “The book lays out how families can work on building happiness into their daily lives from the standpoints of mind, action, and environment. The concepts are taught through the prism of Jewish wisdom and sources. I wrote for the Daily Pennsylvanian during all of my years at Penn and went on to continue my writing career after I graduated.” Beth’s work has appeared in over a dozen national and international publications as well as bestselling story and essay anthologies.
2006
Margaret H. Greenberg CGS’06 has published her second book, The Business of Race: How to Create and Sustain an Antiracist Workplace and Why It’s Actually Good for Business (McGraw-Hill, August 2021). She writes, “Penn’s University chaplain and vice president of social equity and community Rev. Charles ‘Chaz’ Lattimore Howard C’00, who read an advance copy of the book, had this to say: ‘Symbols are important. The curated statements and actions employed by businesses around the world in response to the mass movements demanding social change have indeed been powerful. And yet, symbols are most effective when they reflect sincere policy and cultural changes in institutions. The Business of Race will help companies and their leaders do just that. If you are serious about doing more than just posting the right phrases on social media or making a few new hires, and if you truly want your workplace to be not just diverse, but a space of equity, inclusion, and justice—then this is the book for you.’ I am white and my coauthor, Gina Greenlee, is Black. We met in the workplace more than two decades ago and have remained friends ever since. The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, sparked a phone call between us, which led to coauthoring a series of articles for LinkedIn, called ‘The Workplace is the Perfect Place to Discuss the Undiscussables.’ The Business of Race is an outgrowth of that work.”
Sujeet Indap WG’06, a financial journalist at the Financial Times, has cowritten a new book, The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street, with Max Frumes. From the book’s description: “The 2015 bankruptcy brawl for the storied casino giant, Caesars Entertainment, pitted brilliant and ruthless private equity legends against the world’s most relentless hedge fund wizards.”
2007
Veyom Bahl C’07 has been awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to the Loeb Fellowship, he was a managing director at the Robin Hood Foundation, New York City’s largest poverty fighting organization.
2008
Meredith Levine Finn C’08 and Steven Finn W’08 GEng’10 WG’16 write, “We are proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Hadley Breeze Finn, born June 1. Hadley has been busy playing with her new friends and family, including Caren Levine W’81, Brian Finn W’82, Matthew Levine C’07, Lindsay Janowitz Levine C’07 L’10, Arden Resnick C’10, Marissa Finn Hersh C’12, Aileen Meshover Levine Nu’80 GNu’86, Lisa Finn WG’85, Jason Levine C’05 L’09, Evan Levine L’16 WG’16, and Brett Levine W’13. Currently living nearby in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Hadley and her three big siblings (Harper, six; Hudson, five; and Harris, three) love visiting Penn’s campus.”
2009
Mariana Carlos-Ondrusek C’09 writes, “Derek Ondrusek EAS’10 W’10 and I are delighted to announce the birth of our daughter, Isabella Valentina, on August 6 in Watertown, New York. She joins big sister Sofia, who has been taking her new job very seriously. We are looking forward to visiting Penn as a family of four in the not-so-distant future.”
2010
Harry S. Cherken Jr. LPS’10, senior counsel at Faegre Drinker, has been appointed honorary consul of Armenia for the Greater Philadelphia area. According to the press release, in this role Harry will “facilitate economic, education and cultural exchanges between Armenia and Philadelphia; will endeavor to protect the interests of Armenian citizens while in Philadelphia; will support the Armenian diaspora community and organizations at large; and, will act as a liaison for official government and business delegations.”
Derek Ondrusek EAS’10 W’10 see Mariana Carlos-Ondrusek C’09.
Justen H. Roth C’10 and Alexandra E. Roth C’10 write, “We welcomed our second child, Max Bennett, to our family on September 4. Max was born at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey.”
2011
Rachel Baye C’11 reported an award-winning story for WYPR, the Maryland NPR station where she works. Her story, “Maryland Foster Children Stay in Hospitals Because They Have Nowhere Else to Go,” won a 2021 National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the category of “Large Market Radio Station: Hard News.” Earlier this year, WYPR was honored with a RTDNA 2021 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, in the category of “Hard News” for the same story. Rachel’s reporting revealed the added trauma of Maryland’s hard-to-place foster children who are languishing in hospitals, because there is nowhere to place them. The story originally aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition in February 2020 and can be heard at bit.ly/3zMpK8Y. At Penn, Rachel was the executive editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian in 2010.
2017
Sophie Beren C’17 SPP’17, who was included in our feature on student mental health[“Wellness Warriors,” Jan|Feb 2021], was featured on a billboard in New York’s Times Square for her new Gen Z talk show at the Conversationalist called POVz. She writes, “I host POVz each week on a trending, controversial topic impacting Gen Z. What makes our show different from any other show is that we break open echo chambers and have these conversations from multiple points of view. Topics from past episodes include: Do you support Black Lives Matter? Is America great? Should we cancel cancel culture? Through POVz, Gen Z is able to come together and unify despite their differences, beliefs, and opinions.” The billboard can be viewed on Sophie’s Instagram page, @sophieberen, and more information about the show can be found at www.theconversationalist.com.
Levi Levenfiche C’17, Marisa Poster C’19, and Teddie Levenfiche C’19 have cofounded a matcha (powdered green tea) company called PerfectTed. Levi writes, “We started with a Kickstarter campaign (bit.ly/3kRylAI) that was funded in less than 24 hours and have since built up a platform that provides wholesale matcha to the UK’s leading restaurants, cafes, and hotels, as well as our product to retail consumers in leading UK supermarkets. Our next milestone is the launch of our carbonated matcha energy drinks, which are entirely plant-based and use real fruit! We are super excited about the journey we have been on and what is to come. Moreover, we are grateful for the preparation that Penn provided us with.
2018
Octavia Daoxing Sun LPS’18, corporate social responsibility analyst at Bank of the West, has joined the corporate leadership council of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. The group, including top executives and practitioners from more than 25 global organizations, will work closely with CHC to advance corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental, social and governance (ESG), and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and support emerging leaders.
2019
Teddie Levenfiche C’19 see Levi Levenfiche C’17.
Marisa Poster C’19 see Levi Levenfiche C’17.
